Dressed in white tracksuits,a group of five women in their mid-20s walks down the corridors of the Gujarat Police Academy at Karai in Gandhinagar. Nondescript as they may seem,the five are Gujarats first official women intelligence officers. The idea of having women intelligence officers was first mooted in 2002 after a commission recommended an overhaul to include a dedicated cadre of intelligence officers. The five names withheld on request are receiving training in surveillance,information gathering and undercover operations along with 33 male colleagues as part of the first batch of direct recruits to the State Intelligence Bureau (SIB). So far,since the inception of the Gujarat Police in 1961,the SIB has only had officers on deputation from the state police. When these women join next month after a nine-month-long training,at the rank of police sub-inspector,Gujarat will be among a few Indian states to have women intelligence officers. Three of them hold B.Ed degrees,one is a commerce graduate while the fifth has a masters degree in economics. Three of them are married. They admit that the initial attraction was of getting a government job with its attached perks. My father is a policeman,so I know what a policemans job is all about. I chose to become an intelligence officer because duty hours are flexible. My father also suggested that I opt for this job as it wouldnt affect my family life. However,I am ready to do whatever the job demands of me, says one of the married officers. According to another trainee,they have been explained that their job profile would involve gathering information about activities harmful to the state,including terrorism,Naxalism,counterfeit currency,etc,as well as threats to vital installations. Retired DGP R B Sreekumar,who headed the SIB during the critical post-Godhra period,was a member of the Mehta Commission that recommended revamping of the state intelligence system. Backing recruitment of women officers,Sreekumar said the commission had found the system of deploying police officials in the SIB ineffective. In many cases police officials deployed as intelligence officials were found flaunting themselves rather than keeping a low profile as they are hardly trained, he said. The current batch is undergoing two types of training basic policing,which covers 80 per cent of the course and intelligence gathering, said Joint Director of Karai Police Academy K D Patadia.
