Prakriti

New Delhi, March 7

In another first for women, 25-year-old Prakriti has been inducted as the first direct-entry combat officer in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police.The ITBP is the last of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) to induct women officers in combat roles after the government first allowed it to enrol them in 2016.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Prakriti had cleared the UPSC exam for officers’ recruitment in CAPFs in her first attempt. “I always had a desire to don the uniform. My father, who is in the Air Force, has always been an inspiration. I opted for ITBP as my first choice,” she said.Prakriti, who hails from Bihar’s Samastipur, has completed her BE and is currently based in an ITBP unit at Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh. She will soon join the Officers’ Training Academy of the force in Dehradun.“She is expected to be commissioned as an Assistant Commandant next year after she completes her training,” a senior ITBP officer said. The force already has women in combat roles but only in the constable rank.Prakriti, who says her parents gave her a surname-less identity in a caste-ridden society, said she never faced discrimination at home. “I urge other parents that when their children make career choices, they should only see it as their child taking up a challenge, not their son or daughter,” she said.The CRPF and CISF had allowed women to apply as direct-entry officers a long time ago.  BSF and SSB did so in 2013 and 2014. — PTI