In an effort to give more representation to women in the Army, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on Wednesday said there is an urgent need for increasing the vacancies for women short service (SSC) officers.
In its report tabled in Parliament, the CAG said there were 1,648 women officers as of January 2020, accounting for just four per cent of the total strength of the commissioned officers in the Army.
The CAG report was on “Selection and Training of officers in Indian Army”. The number of prospective women candidates aspiring to join the services was far larger than the vacancies available to them, it mentioned, and added that increasing the vacancies for women will also help the Army address the shortage of officers in the long run.
There was almost full subscription in all the four entry courses for women and the meritorious women candidates who were found medically fit were approximately twice the number of those finally selected based on vacancies, it said.
“While the ratio of the release of vacancies in respect of women to men showed a steady increase from 29 per cent in 2015 to 50 per cent in 2019 in Judge Advocate General Women entry, it declined in SSC Women (Technical) entry from 16 per cent to eight per cent during the same period,” it mentioned.
The CAG said, “This points towards the urgent need for increasing the vacancies for women SSC entries. It could facilitate the ongoing efforts of the Army towards addressing the shortage of officers in the longer run.”