Army to induct 800 women in military police

Believes women will handle gender-specific crimes

In what could be a new career opportunity for women in the armed forces, the Indian Army would induct 800 women in the military police over the next 15 years.

“The army is to induct approximately 800 women into military police with a yearly intake of 52 personnel per year,” Adjutant General of the Army Lt Gen Ashwani Kumar said here.

With gender-specific crimes on the rise in the army, women in the military police can play an effective role in investigating them.
The army and the defence ministry are implementing the decision taken earlier this year.

Currently, women are allowed in medical, legal, educational, signals and engineering wings of the army.

However, in February, the then President Pranab Mukherjee in his address to Parliament stated that the government in the future would induct women in all the
fighter streams of our armed forces.

The tasks of the military police are guarding the cantonments and army establishments, preventing the breach of rules and regulations by soldiers, maintaining movement of soldiers and logistics during peace and war, handling prisoners of war and extending aid to civil police whenever required.

Indian Air Force allowed women pilots to fly the fighter jets on an experimental basis for five years beginning in June 2016 and the first three women pilots are set to commence their regular flying of Su-30 MKI from later this year.

Flying fighter aircraft was one of the combat areas where women were barred along with infantry and armoured corps in the army and serving on board warships in the navy.

The navy permits women pilots flying the maritime surveillance aircraft where women were traditionally deployed as the observer (navigator).
In all the three services, women had only been employed in in administrative and combat-support roles.

Lt Gen Kumar also said the army had undertaken a cadre review for the junior commissioned officers and ordinary soldiers (other ranks).

“The last cadre review for the army was done in 1984. The Service HQ moved a proposal to upgrade the rank structure that will benefit approximately 1.45 lakhs JCO/OR. The proposal, which has been approved, is in the final stages of the issue at the defence ministry. The upgrade is to take place over a span of five years,” he said.

DH News Service