The West Bengal government has approved the setting up of 29 new women police stations across the state, clearing a proposal that had been pending for more than three years, an official told PTI on Monday, November 2. A notification to this effect was issued on October 30.

Source: PTI

With the 29 new stations, Bengal's network of women police stations is set to grow from 40 to 69. The new stations will come up in 29 subdivisions across 17 districts, according to the official quoted by PTI, with the district-wise distribution reported in detail by the Bangla daily Sangbad Pratidin from state police sources.

Where the new stations will come up

Cooch Behar, Murshidabad and Purba Bardhaman will get the highest number of new women police stations, with three each. Darjeeling, Hooghly, Jalpaiguri, Nadia, Purba Medinipur and Purulia will get two each, while one station each will be established in Bankura, Birbhum, Dakshin Dinajpur, Malda, North 24 Parganas, Paschim Medinipur, South 24 Parganas and Uttar Dinajpur, the official said.

Sangbad Pratidin's subdivision-wise list names, among others, Mekhliganj, Tufanganj and Mathabhanga in Cooch Behar; Domkal, Kandi and Lalbag in Murshidabad; Kalna and Katwa in Purba Bardhaman; Kurseong and Mirik in Darjeeling district; and Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas. Kolkata does not figure in the list — the new stations are all in subdivision towns outside the capital.

Staffing and the long wait

According to the staffing proposal reported by PTI, each new women police station will have one inspector, six to seven sub-inspectors, eight assistant sub-inspectors and 20 women constables — roughly 1,000 posts across the 29 stations if the proposal is implemented in full. No opening dates for the new stations have been announced yet.

The approval ends a long wait. In November 2023, the state police had submitted a fresh proposal for 20 additional women police stations across 16 subdivisions, but the plan remained pending for more than three years in total. This year's state budget had announced that women police stations would be established in every subdivision within the current financial year, which ends on March 31, 2027.

The first women police station in West Bengal was established in Asansol in 2012, under the Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissionerate. The network has since grown gradually to 40 stations, and officials described the October 30 notification as a major step towards strengthening women's safety and making it easier for women to approach the police in their own subdivision towns.