Chandigarh, July 1 (IANS) Chandigarh police has appointed a woman for the first time as a Station House Officer (SHO), officials said Friday.
Inspector Poonam Dilawari has been appointed as SHO of the police station in Sector 3 here, they said.
‘I have a big responsibility on my shoulders. Because I am the first woman SHO in Chandigarh, I have to set a good example for my women successors. Now more women cops will feel motivated and they would also try for senior positions in Chandigarh police,’ an elated Dilawari told IANS Friday.
As an SHO, she would be responsible for maintaining law and order in one of the most upscale areas of Chandigarh. Her jurisdiction includes residences of both Punjab and Haryana chief ministers, cabinet ministers and senior bureaucrats.
Dilawari, 42, who joined as constable in Chandigarh police in 1990, cleared the entrance exam for the post of assistant sub-inspector in 1991. She was promoted to the rank of sub-inspector in 1996 and to the rank of inspector in 2010.
Dilawari has headed the police computer section, public window and various other police posts in this city. In 2010, she became the first woman public relations officer of Chandigarh police.
She was also among the three women inspector-level officers selected for a United Nation’s peace support mission in December last year.