Bihar's Pratima Verma given additional charge as DGP, state has India's highest women police share
IPS officer Pratima Verma gets temporary DGP charge in Bihar, which has the country's highest proportion of women police personnel.
There is renewed discussion about the representation of women in the Bihar police force after 1991-batch IPS officer Pratima Verma was given additional charge as the state's Director General of Police (DGP). The government took the decision after Bihar's incumbent DGP, Vinay Kumar, applied for long leave. Pratima Verma will hold the charge from September 15, 2026, to October 5, 2026. The additional charge will end once Vinay Kumar returns from leave. She currently also holds charge as Bihar's DG of Homeguard and Fire Services.
Bihar currently has about 30,000 women police personnel. According to Bureau of Police Research and Development figures up to January 1, 2020, women make up 25.30 percent of the Bihar police force, the highest share among all states in the country. Himachal Pradesh follows with 19.15 percent and Chandigarh with 18.78 percent. However, in terms of absolute numbers, Lok Sabha data shows Uttar Pradesh has the most women police personnel in the country, which experts attribute to its large population. Reservation has played an important role in increasing women's participation in the Bihar police force. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar introduced 35 percent reservation for women in police recruitment in 2013, after which the number of women personnel rose sharply.
According to the India Justice Report 2025, about 2.4 lakh women are employed in police forces across the country. Of these, only 960 are of IPS rank, 24,322 hold other officer-level posts, and about 2.17 lakh work at the constable level, meaning around 90 percent of all women police personnel are constables. The report also notes that no state or union territory has yet met its own fixed target for women's representation in the police force, though about 78 percent of police stations across the country now have a women's help desk.
Pratima Verma, the officer in charge of Bihar's DGP post, is a 1991-batch IPS officer of the Bihar cadre with more than three decades of experience in the police service. She was awarded the Police Medal in 2009 and the President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service in 2023. She has held several senior positions during her career, and the 2023 IPS civil list recorded her as holding the post of DG in Bihar. In 2026 she was given charge as DG Homeguard and Fire Services, and she is now serving as Bihar's DGP in charge.
