Hoshiarpur, Punjab: The 178 women, most of them from small towns and villages, inducted into the paramilitary Border Security Force (BSF) on Saturday to guard the international borders, are starry-eyed at the thought of being the first women in this job crucial to India's security.
Sandeep Ghuman, one of the five recruits who won a medal for her performance during training, said, "I get so excited whenever I think about guarding the international border. I have countless questions in my mind and I am very eager to join my duty.
"We have got extensive physical training like drill, camp training, security duties, handling natural calamities and intelligence and vigilance training."
The women participated at a passing out parade at the Kharkan camp of the BSF, 15 km from this Punjab town. The ceremony was witnessed by union Home Minister P Chidambaram and BSF Director General M L Kumawat.
They have already trained for 36 weeks and will now get specialised tips on advanced combat for two weeks before taking up assignments along the 553-km-long fenced India-Pakistan border in Punjab.
S K Mession, a postgraduate in Punjabi literature and one of the new recruits, told IANS, "I was easily getting a government job but I refused all those offers as I wanted to serve my nation.
"I am from a very small town in Punjab and now I want to show this whole world that Indian girls are capable enough to do anything on this earth."
The newly inducted troopers will be the first women to be deployed along the international border. Their work will include security at the border gates, frisking of women going across the fence and facilitating spectators at the retreat ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border near Amritsar.
BSF spokesperson Jagir Singh said: "If required their services will also be used on internal security duties and counter insurgency roles that are being performed by the BSF."
Saturday's ceremony was also witnessed by the parents of the new troopers.
"I am feeling very happy and it is a great privilege that BSF invited us for this passing out parade. Now we want our daughter to become a senior officer in BSF," Kulwant Singh, from Dhardeo village in Amritsar district, around 60 km from the Attari-Wagah border, said.
Nimal Kaur, from Tibri village in Punjab's border district of Gurdaspur, said: "I am happy that my daughter has taken ahead the legacy of our family as my husband also retired from the BSF. Initially we had some reservations like how she would manage in this male dominated field but after seeing the atmosphere here I am feeling very relieved."
While many of the new women troopers are from Punjab, those passing out on Saturday included young women from West Bengal and Assam also.
Among the new recruits, 14 are postgraduates, 22 graduates and 128 studied up to Class 12. The recruits include 25 sportswomen and 11 National Cadet Corps (NCC) volunteers.
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