For the first time, the Navy has decided to give Permanent Commission to women officers on a par with their male counterparts. To start with, seven women officers from the 2008-2009 batch of Short Service Commission (SSC) will get permanent commission. The Service has already thrown open its aviation wing for women pilots and they will get inducted from 2017.
The maritime force has also accepted another long-standing proposal to induct women officers on warships in the near future after appropriate facilities are installed on these ships.
At present, warships are out of bounds for women officers and these ships also lack women-specific infrastructure.
While the Army and IAF have already granted Permanent Commission to women officers in select branches including Engineers, Intelligence, Judge Advocate General and Education, the IAF will induct the first batch of four women officers as combat fighter jet pilots. These officers are now undergoing gruelling training and will become full-fledge combat pilots after one-and-half years. However, the Army has not allowed women officers to join the combat arm like infantry and artillery due to sensitivities involved, besides hardships on the battlefield.
Announcing the Permanent Commission decision, Navy officials said here on Wednesday, seven officers from the batch of Short Service Commission officers of the Education branch and Naval Constructor cadre, who joined in 2008-09, will get it.
Additional avenues for employment of women officers have also been opened up. Starting in 2017, women officers can choose to join as Pilots of Maritime Reconnaissance planes like P-8I and Dornier besides the Naval Armament Inspectorate cadre, they said.
A total of eight branches and cadres will be opened for women officers in the Navy, they said adding the Navy is also finalising the policy for women officers to serve on select warships that have appropriate facilities for women.
At present, the Navy has nearly 500 women officers including medical cadre. The Army has 340 Permanent Commission women officers out of 1,450 officers while the IAF has 1,340 odd officers. Incidentally, women pilots fly helicopters and transport planes in the IAF as Short Service Commission officers. Efforts are on to grant permanent commission to suitable candidates.
Women officers have been in the Armed Forces for about 80 years and served with competence and distinction. They were inducted in the Military Nursing Service in 1927 and in the Medical Officers Cadre since 1943. Following Cabinet approval, induction of women officers in other branches in the three Services started in 1992.
In the Armed Forces Medical Services there are about 752 women Medical Officers, 86 women Dental Officers and 2,834 members of the All Women Military Nursing Service (MNS). Out of the 752 lady Medical Officers, 490 are Permanent Commission Officers. Similarly, 38 per cent of women Dental officers and 90 per cent members of the MNS hold the Permanent Commission.
Meanwhile, operational preparedness to deal with any challenge in the maritime domain, acquisition of assets and logistics issues will figure prominently during the three-day Naval Commanders’ conference here on Thursday. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar will inaugurate the meet which will also review the situation in the strategically-important Indian Ocean region with China making a determined effort to have a footprint in this region.
Navy chief Admiral RK Dhowan will chair the conference to review various aspects like combat readiness and operational preparedness of the Navy, including coastal security, to address the dynamic security challenges in the Indian Ocean region.
The Navy brass will also review the timelines for capital inductions of the Navy in consonance with the ‘Make in India’ initiative which is aligned with the Indian Navy’s guiding principles of self-reliance and indigenization. The major infrastructure upgrades of the Navy with special emphasis on aviation assets will also be reviewed, officials said here on Wednesday.