Fifteen women have joined the Fire Service and Civil Defence as firefighters for the first time in the history of Bangladesh. Md Main Uddin is the Brigadier General, as well as the Director-General of the Fire Service. He personally welcomed the newly appointed female firefighters at the Mirpur Training Complex on 19 November. The following week, they officially became part of the force at the Multipurpose Training Complex of the Fire Service. This training complex is located in Purbachal, Narayanganj. Previously, women joined the force as officers, but none were appointed to the firefighter position. Frankly, there was no opportunity for such appointments.
The female firefighters are Majeda Khatun, Papiya Khatun, Pinki Roy, Maimuna Akhtar, among others. The position of ‘Fireman’ was recently changed to ‘Firefighter’ following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s order to eliminate gender discrimination. This will help create opportunities for both men and women to be candidates for this post. More importantly, this will inspire young girls to aspire to become firefighters. It will also help motivate parents to send their daughters to school and finish their education. The possibility of young girls to become firefighters will light a spark within every parent and daughter of this country.