Women BSF guards put on duty in border areas

I WONDER  : MARKETING AT ITS BEST ( THEY R ACTUALLY REQD FOR FRISKING WOMEN BUT SEE THE NEWS REPORT)

Gates set-up on the fencing along the Indo-Pak international border in the state opened up with women guards positioned on duty today morning. It was a day of new dawn in the golden chapters of the BSF.

For the first time, in the history of the country, as many as 178 young and energetic women recruits of the BSF had taken up their assignment of guarding international borders of the country.

Out of these, 118 women personnel had been deployed along the 553-km-long fenced Indo-Pak border in Ferozepur, Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts in the state and the rest 60 on the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal and other states.

These women, aged between 18 to 22 years, had passed out from a training camp of the BSF at Kharkan, near Hoshiarpur, on July 25. However, they had to undergo a specialised training of another six weeks to get more tips on advanced combat operations before joining on border duties.

A senior official of the BSF told The Tribune that the BSF women personnel would make foolproof body frisking of the local women at border check posts whose farms were across the border fence. Almost as a daily routine, a large number of women cross the fencing through the gates to carry out farming activities. Earlier, it was difficult for BSF men to carry out frisking exercise.

The official further revealed that among the new recruits, 14 were postgraduates, 22 graduates and 128 had studied up to Class XII and include 25 sportswomen and 11 NCC volunteers.

The BSF had constructed private living quarters, independent recreational areas and even washrooms reserved for the women personnel in every unit, he added.

A majority of the women recruits were from the state, but a few of those having passed out include young women from West Bengal and Assam also.

Along with their male counterparts, they would carry out search and frisking at check posts, immigration points and trade routes along the borders in Punjab, besides, facilitating spectators in the retreat ceremonies at Hussainiwala and Attari-Wagah borders in Ferozepur and Amritsar districts, respectively.