RANCHI: The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) will frame parameters for achieving gender-neutral environment at workplaces and will rank police organisations on basis of the set standards. The decision was taken during the eighth National Conference for Women in Police (NCWP) which concluded in Ranchi on Tuesday.Speaking at the concluding ceremony, BPRD director general A P Maheshwari said, "The ranking of police organisations on gender neutrality will apprise them of their standing in the country. It will also enable the organisations to judge where they need to work harder."Maheshwari said BPRD will also make a national standing committee comprising researchers from various police organisations and leading institutions, including Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and Indian Institute of Technologies (IIT), which will work on measures needed to bring gender neutrality in the organisations. The committee, which will consist of at least 20 members, will hold meetings every quarter.Speaking as the chief guest on the occasion, Governor Droupadi Murmu said, "The day will come when women will comprise more than 50% of the personnel in the police force and other organisations. They are talented but many are not getting proper support and facilities."Recounting the efforts of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee , the Governor said he had formed self-help groups in the country for women empowerment.Director general of police D K Pandey said the state will be better prepared for the 9th NCWP, which is also scheduled to be held in Ranchi.Speaking on sexual harassment at workplace during one of the sessions, chairperson of National Commission for Women (NCW) Rekha Sharma said the problem is rooted in the patriarchal mindset of the people. "There are loopholes in the existing laws and there is a need to work on overall definition of sexual harassment at workplace," she said, adding that most workplaces do not have local complaint committees.Meanwhile, the NCWP came up with several recommendations for improving working condition of women in uniform after the two-day deliberation. Prominent among them include promoting empowered workplace for women, enabling gender-neutral office, inclusive gender mainstreaming at policy level and establishing required indicators along with gender budgeting. The NCWP also recommended leveraging technology for achieving gender neutrality.

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