Govt cop-out on Bedi: Unfair deal for 'fair sex'?

POLIC(E)Y ISSUE: Kiran Bedi alleges gender discrimination for her non-appointment as Delhi police chief.

          

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Keywords: Women Rights , YS Dadwal

Women empowerment - the agenda endorsed and publicised as the key reason behind Pratibha Patil's appointment as India's first woman president - lost all merit when it came to giving India's first woman IPS officer the post of the police commissioner.

Kiran Bedi, the Director General of Bureau of Police Research and Development told CNN-IBN that the appointment of Dadwal, her junior, sends out a wrong message, indicating gender bias was behind her being denied the post.

Many believe the incident in an apt reflection of India’s patriarchal society, indicating only certain “type” of women can rise in corridors of power.

Hence a demure, non-threatening figurehead Pratibha Patil - who keeps her head covered with her sari pallu - makes an ideal President for UPA, while the short-haired, no-nonsense cop Kiran Bedi - who matches her male counterparts talent-for-talent - is seen a misfit for another top position.

Former Chief Election Commissioner, T S Krishnamurthy; India's High Commissioner to Bangladesh Veena Sikri and Kiran Bedi debated if India’s power circuit was patriarchal on CNN-IBN show Face the Nation conducted by Sagarika Ghose.

No woman, no try?

The outrage over Bedi not being appointed as the Delhi police chief is rooted in the merit argument. While Bedi alleges gender discrimination, sources in the Home Ministry say that it was her non-involvement in active policing that has acted as a deterrent.

However, Krishnamurthy blamed the antiquated, backward looking bureaucracy.

"All I can say is that there is a serious need to reframe and re-organise police administration," he said.

Defying claims that a woman is denied important posts for constraints like maternity and family obligations, Krishnamurthy said, "I don't think there are any constraints. Every woman is capable of doing as much a man's job. But the government appointments are made on various considerations, some of them may not be justifiable while some may be. This applies to all the services."