Drop in women officers in IAF and Navy

The government's efforts to make armed forces an attractive career choice for women don't seem to have found too many takers. The number of women officers in the IAF and Navy declined in the last two years whereas the count remains more or less in the same range for the Army.

In 2016, as many as 108 women officers were commissioned in the Indian Air Force. The number dropped sharply to 59 each, in 2017 and 2018. Similarly, more than 40 women officers entered Navy in 2016 and 2017, but the count decreased to 29 a year later.

For the Army, a force much larger than the IAF and Navy, the number of newly commissioned women officers was 69 in 2016 and 66 in 2017. The number rose marginally to 75 next year, as per the data shared by the Defence Ministry with the Parliamentarians.

As on January 1, 2019, the Army has the lowest percentage of women officers, only 3.89%, even though the force suffers from a shortage of 7,399 officers. In the Navy, women constitute 6.7% of its officers' cadre while in the Indian Air Force that opened up its doors for women much before the other two services, 13.28% of its officers are women.

After years of inertia, the IAF finally opened up combat flying for women with the first batch of women fighter pilots qualifying for fighter operations this year.

The Navy is also ready to give more operational roles to women. Training ships with women-specific facilities are being manufactured to train the next generation of female navy officers who would be deployed on-board warships.

But as the statistics suggest, the fairer sex appears to have a second thought notwithstanding the Defence Ministry's promotion of “Nari Shakti” (women power) in the Republic Day parade. Sources, however, say that a part of the decline could be due to a change in the IAF recruitment policy.

Asked about the depleting number of women in the armed forces, an official explained that it would be a tough and demanding career choice for a woman as she has to stay away from home and from the spouse in many cases, for the first 20 years.

“They would also be requiring a family support system to look after children in case of both parents serving the armed forces,” he told DH.

In his last Independence Day address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Permanent Commission for women following which the Defence Ministry announced a policy in February 2019 to extend the grant of Permanent Commission to women officers in the eight branches in the Indian Army.