'28% of women officers in forces given permanent commission'

There are 3,938 women officers in the Army, Air Force and Navvy of which 1,107 received the permanent commission

More than 28 per cent of women officers serving in the combat and combat support arms of the armed forces have received a permanent commission, the Defence Ministry informed the Parliament on Monday.

There are 3,938 women officers in the army, air force and navy of which 1,107 received a permanent commission.

The Indian Army has more than 1,500 women officers serving in eight combat support branches. More than 200 women officers each are in the Corps of Signals, Corps of Engineers, Army Service Corps, Army Ordnance Corps and Electronics and Mechanical Engineers.

In addition, there are 202 women officers in the Army Education Corps and the Judge Advocate General branch.

The Supreme Court in a judgement last March declared certain terms in the evaluation criteria adopted by the Indian Army for grant of permanent commission to women officers as “arbitrary and irrational”.

The top court had held that the evaluation criteria perpetuated gender stereotypes based on patriarchal notions and amounted to “systemic discrimination”.

Subsequently, the army announced granting permanent commissions to women in eight branches.

The Indian Air Force also has 1,500 plus women officers, including 15 fighter pilots and 53 helicopter pilots. Indian Navy has 593 women officers.

While the army is yet to open up its core warfighting units like infantry and artillery to women officers accommodating them only in combat support roles, the IAF has commissioned 15 women fighter pilots to date and the Indian Navy has already deputed 28 women officers on-board ships.

“The combat employment philosophy of women in the armed forces is a continuously evolving process. The women officers are now being inducted into all combat roles. They are also deployed in combat roles onboard naval aircraft and shipborne helicopters,” the Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said in a written reply.

The apex court in another order asked the defence ministry to open up the doors of the military institutions for girls. Subsequently, as many as 1,16,891 girls appeared in the NDA entrance examination in November 2021 and the selection process is underway.

Last year 320 girls for the first time received admissions in 33 Sainik schools spread across the country.

The number of vacancies for girls in Sainik schools has been upgraded to 335 in the 2022-23 academic sessions.

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