Violet Baruah, an IPS officer, became the first woman to be promoted to the rank of Inspector General in Assam Police, officials said on Monday.
An official of the state Home Department said that the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Kokrajhar, Baruah, a 2004 batch IPS officer, has been promoted to the rank of IGP.
Baruah, 59, who received the President’s Police Medal for distinguished service earlier this year, had served as the Superintendent of Police in four districts — Morigaon, Goalpara, Cachar, and Barpeta. She was also posted in the CID wing.
“Promoted to the rank of IGP. Feeling blessed to be the first lady IGP in the state of Assam,” Baruah tweeted.
The Assam Policeās senior most woman IPS officer, who is currently posted as the Deputy Inspector General of Police (BTAD) in Kokrajhar district, will be in the āSuper Time Scale-II of IPSā of pay matrix, it added.
Expressing happiness over the development, Baruah said she has always taken up any challenge that came along in the job.
āI have never said no to any posting or task in my career. Rejecting a job has never been my style of functioning. That is why I was out of Guwahati (where state police headquarters is situated) for most of the period of my service,ā she told PTI over the phone.
Ms Baruah, who had joined the police force in 1992 as an Assam Police Services officer and got nominated to IPS in 2004, opined that gender empowerment has been taking place everywhere, but the need of the hour is “gender mainstreaming”.
“It requires personal initiative also. I personally opted for a field job and I did not face any barrier in that. Nowadays many women have come forward to join the police, but I feel more should come,” she added.
The 59-year-old officer had served as the superintendent of police in four districts — Morigaon, Goalpara, Cachar and Barpeta, besides working in the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of the Assam Police.
