300 women officers serving in 10 streams of force to be benefited from this decision
Abiding by the Supreme Court judgment, the Defence Ministry on Thursday issued orders to grant permanent commission to women officers in the Army. This major move will benefit more than 300 women officers right away serving in 10 streams of the force.
The order comes after the apex court in February this year directed the Government that women officers in the Army
be granted permanent commission and command postings in all services. However, women officers as of now cannot serve in the combat arms like the infantry, artillery and armored corps.
Following the judgment, Army Chief General MM Naravane had said it was an enabling one and gives a lot of clarity on how to move forward. He had stated that the same procedure for male Short Service Commission (SSC) officers will be followed for women to give permanent commission.
The Defence Ministry order on Thursday also said, “In anticipation, the Army HQ had set in motion a series of preparatory actions for conduct of the permanent commission Selection Board for women officers. The Selection Board will be scheduled as soon as all affected SSC women officers exercise their option and complete requisite documentation.”
The order specifies grant of Permanent Commission to SSC women officers in all 10 streams of the Indian Army in which they presently serve - Army Air Defence (AAD), Signals, Engineers, Army Aviation, Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME), Army Service Corps (ASC), Army Ordnance Corps (AOC), and Intelligence Corps in addition to the existing streams of Judge and Advocate General (JAG) and Army Educational Corps (AEC). The Army also said it is committed to provide equal opportunities to all personnel including women officers to serve the nation.
About 322 women officers had approached the Supreme Court on the issue of Permanent Commission and the issue of command postings came up in the discussion on subsequent avenues after the grant of Permanent Commission. In its appeal the Government had cited “physical” and “physiological limitations” in granting command positions to women offers in the Army to which the Supreme Court had said there was need for administrative will and “change of mindset.”