After 51 years of existence, the Border Security Force (BSF) has made history by appointing its first woman field officer. Tanushree Pareek, a 25-year-old from Bikaner, Rajasthan, became the first woman to join the BSF in the officer rank. She had been selected after clearing the all-India examination conducted by UPSC in 2014. She had to undergo 52 weeks of an intensive training programme that comprised of training, intelligence gathering, and battle craft, among other border guarding tasks.

Tanushree was felicitated in a convocation ceremony held in the BSF Academy at Tekanpur in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior district. It was Home Minister Rajnath Singh himself who put the rank stars on her shoulder.
While speaking with India Today, Rajnath Singh said,

I am happy that the BSF has got its first woman field officer and hope that many more women will join her in securing our borders.

Tanushree proudly led 67 trainee officers who were a part of the passing out parade. Fifty one of the 67 are direct entry officers, while the remaining are officers who have been promoted. She will be posted in Punjab along the India-Pakistan border, where she will be taking up the role of Assistant Commandant.

The Border Security Force (BSF) came into being in 1965, and has primarily been tasked with keeping safe the nation’s borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh. The BSF has a total of 2.5 lakh people in service to keep the borders safe and secure. Apart from the Indian military, the BSF is the only force that operates on land, water, and air. While speaking with The Times of India, the Home Minister said,

BSF is not only the first line of defence, but also the first wall of defence.

One of the most respected forces in India has also acknowledged that having a desired job, no matter in which field, is as much a right of a woman as it is of a man.

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