Raised eyebrows over beauty workshop for Delhi women cops

Over a hundred female police officials attended the seminar on May 29, which covered aspects of “beauty, wellness, diet, make-up, skin care and hairstyle”. It was in collaboration with a popular wellness and beauty institute. A female officer told The Indian Express, “Our duty does not demand us to carry ourselves like beautiful dolls. We need to be dressed in crisp uniforms, and work day in and day out.”

While another officer voiced the need for “educational training sessions over beauty seminars” and “workout centres”. Even as a slide show on diet patterns was screened, along with a crash course on “matching make up with the uniforms”, female officers expressed the need for more emphasis on their safety and measures to ensure personal hygiene.

“Clean washrooms and more cooperation from our male counterparts deserves to be the priority. Night shifts and long duties need to be handled more sensitively,” said a female officer. Pramod Joshi, Station House Officer of Patel Nagar police station, also voiced a similar sentiment: “Awareness programmes which focus on personality growth, communication skills and general knowledge would offer more help to our female force than such seminars.”

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Mandeep Randhawa said, “This seminar was held to make female officers more confident since they deal with the public too… the emphasis was on their diet because apart from work, they also have to manage their home and children. A similar seminar will be held for male officers too… on etiquette.” On the demand for better washrooms, Randhawa said, “We already have washrooms for women at police stations… with time, they will get better.”