Most major metropolitan areas, such as Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, have police commissionerates under the state police and headed by commissioners. Police in the states and union territories are assisted by units of volunteer Home Guards under guidelines formulated by the Ministry of Home Affairs. In most states and territories, police forces are divided into civil (unarmed) police and armed contingents. Civil police staff police stations, conduct investigations, answer routine complaints, perform traffic duties, and patrol the streets. They usually carry lathis: bamboo staffs, weighted (or tipped) with iron. Armed police are divided into two groups: district armed police and the Provincial Armed Constabulary (Pradeshik). District armed police are organized like an army infantry battalion. Assigned to police stations, they perform guard and escort duties. States which maintain armed contingents use them as an emergency reserve strike force. The units are organized as a mobile armed force under state control or, in the case of district armed police (who are not as well equipped), as a force directed by district superintendents and generally used for riot control. The Provincial Armed Constabulary is an armed reserve maintained at key locations in some states and activated on orders from the deputy inspector general and higher-level authorities. Armed constabulary are not usually in contact with the public unless they are assigned to VIP duty or maintaining order during fairs, festivals, athletic events, elections, and natural disasters. They may be sent to quell outbreaks of student or labour unrest, organized crime, and communal riots; to maintain key guard posts, and to participate in anti-terrorism operations. Depending on the assignment, the Provincial Armed Constabulary may only carry lathis. Senior police officers answer to the police chain of command, and respond to the general direction of designated civilian officials. In the municipal force, the chain of command runs to the state home secretary rather than the district superintendent or district officials. Working conditions and pay are poor, especially in the lower echelons. Recruits receive about 9,000 per month (about US$150). Opportunities for promotion are limited because of the system of horizontal entry into higher grades. Allegations of bribery, attributable to low pay and poor working conditions, have been widespread. A 2016 article on the Maharashtra state police describes why reform is needed. Women have entered into the higher echelons of Indian police in greater numbers since the late 1980s, primarily through the Indian Police Service system. Female officers were first used in 1972, and a number of women hold key positions in state police organizations. Their absolute numbers, however, are small. Uniformed and undercover women police officers have been deployed in New Delhi as the Anti-Eve Teasing Squad, which combats the sexual harassment of women ("Eves"). Several women-only police stations have been established in Tamil Nadu to handle sex crimes against women. Uniforms Uniforms of state and local police vary by grade, region, and type of duty. The main service uniform for state police is khaki. Some cities, such as Kolkata, have white uniforms. Headgear differs by rank and state; officers usually wear a peaked cap, and constables wear berets or sidecaps. Branches such as the Central Bureau of Investigation do not have a uniform; business dress (shirt, tie, blazer, etc.) is worn with a badge. Special-service armed police have tactical uniforms in accordance with their function, and traffic police generally wear a white uniform. Organisation The state police is headed by an IPS officer with the rank of director general of police (DGP), assisted by two (or more) additional directors general of police (ADGs). Other DG rank officers head autonomous bodies not controlled by the