CRPF is the only Para Military Force in the Country which have 06 Mahila (Ladies) Battalions. After its training in March 1987, 88(M) Bn won laurels for its work assisting the Meerut riots and later with the IPKF in Srilanka. Personnel of second Mahila battalion (135 Bn) performed creditably during the Lok Sabha elections 1996 in many states. At present mahila personnel are deployed in active duty in Jammu & Kashmir, Ayodhya, Manipur, Assam and other parts of the country where they are doing commendable job. In addition each RAF battalion has a Mahila (Ladies) component consisting of 96 personnel.
With increasing participation of women in politics, agitation and crime, policemen have been feeling handicapped in handling women agitations especially because even a small, real or alleged misdemeanour on their part in dealing with any matter related to women has the potential of turning into a serious law & order problem. To cope with such eventualities the first Mahila Bn in CRPF, the 88(M) Bn was created in 1986 with HQR in Delhi. The successful experiment of the 88 (Mahila) Bn and the ever increasing requirement of a Mahila component in dealing with emerging law and order situation as well as the Government emphasis to empower the women Department had taken a of raising the second and third Mahila Bn i.e the 135 (M) Bn with HQR at Gandhinagar (Gujarat) in 1995 and the 213 Bn with HQR at Nagpur(Maharastra) in 2011.
Further to augment above concept a new CRPF Mahila Bn. i.e. the 232(M) Bn is also being raised at Ajmer 2014-15. 02 more Mahila Bns were raised during 2015-16 & 2016-17 respectively.
The Mahila Bn. celebrated it’s Silver Jubilee this year. H.E. The President of India, Smt. Pratibha D. Patil took salute of the parade. Smt. Meira Kumar, Hon’ble Speaker of Lok Sabha honoured the achievers of the unit which included Padamsri Ms. Kunja Rani Devi and the gallantry medalists. Sh. Kapil Sibal, Hon’ble Minister for Communications released "First Day Cover”. A Coffee Table Book was also released by Shri P. Chidambaram, Hon’ble Home Minister. Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson NAC presented a trophy to the 88 ( Mahila ) Battalion.
It has completed 77 years of glorious history. The Force has grown into a big organization with 246 Bn, (including 208 executive Bns, 6 Mahila Bns, 15 RAF Bns, 10 CoBRA Bns, 5 Signal Bns and 1 Special Duty Group & 01 Parliament Duty Group), 43 Group Centres, 20 Training Institutions, 3 CWS, 7 AWS, 3 SWS, 4 Composite Hospitals of 100 bed and 17 Composite Hospitals of 50 bed.