The role of women in Uttar Pradesh Police is expanding beyond help desks and police stations handling complaints by women. From leading districts and supervising investigations to heading specialised units and serving in armed formations, they are taking on responsibilities across the policing system.
The change is visible at the top of the hierarchy. Other women officers occupy influential assignments in intelligence, vigilance, training and commissionerates. Aparna Kumar is joint commissioner of police in Lucknow, while Manzil Saini serves as IG in vigilance, and Geeta Singh holds an IG-level assignment in training. At the district level, officers such as Khyati Garg in Lakhimpur Kheri, Raveena Tyagi in Barabanki, Aparna Rajat Kaushik in Mirzapur, Prachi Singh in Ambedkarnagar, Shardha Pandey in Kanpur Dehat, Ankita Sharma in Bijnor and Aarti Singh in Fatehgarh, illustrate how women are taking responsibility for policing beyond gender-specific mandates. However, the wider change lies in women’s growing participation in policing beyond cases involving women and children.
Over 35,443 women have been recruited into the police department since 2017, according to the state government’s 2026-27 budget document. The government has also said the women’s police workforce has grown from around 10,000 to more than 44,000. Anupam Kulshrestha, a 1995-batch IPS officer, serves as ADG, Kanpur Zone; Padmaja Chauhan holds senior responsibilities in the Women and Child Security Wing and Fire Services; and Laxmi Singh heads the Gautam Buddh Nagar Police Commissionerate. There are 3,196 women investigators and 3,115 women sub-inspectors and inspectors, according to departmental figures. The state also has 75 women cyber units and 78 women police stations. On October 14, the Uttar Pradesh Police Recruitment and Promotion Board declared the final results for 32,679 constable and equivalent posts. Of these, 4,481 women were selected, including 2,282 for women’s battalions. The recruitment process attracted nearly 28.87 lakh applicants.
