Image Credit: Hindustan Times
India
Defence Ministry Grants Permanent Commission To Women Officers In 8 More Branches Of Army
|This was done in accordance with the Supreme Court directive in February, which will "empower them to shoulder larger roles" in the 13-lakh strong force.
The defence ministry has issued the formal order to grant permanent commission (PC) to women officers in eight more branches of the Army. This was done in accordance with the Supreme Court directive in February, which will "empower them to shoulder larger roles" in the 13-lakh strong force.
The "government sanction letter" specifies that women short-service commission (SSC) officers will be granted PC in Army Air Defence (AAD), Signals, Engineers, Army Aviation, Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME), Army Service Corps (ASC), Army Ordnance Corps (AOC) -- only if they are found eligible by a selection board.
"In anticipation, the Army HQ had already set in motion a series of preparatory actions or conduct of the PC selection board for eligible women officers. The board will be scheduled as soon as all eligible women SSC officers exercise their option and complete requisite documentation," The Times Of India quoted an Army officer as saying.
Till now, women officers were not mandated to undergo the "junior command course" and other "adjunct courses" unlike their male counterparts, as young captains or majors to be eligible for "command appointments".
However, women cannot join main combat arms like infantry, mechanized infantry, artillery and armoured corps in the Army. Further, they are not allowed to serve on board warships and submarines in the Navy.
But breaking another glass ceiling in 2016, the IAF commissioned eight women as fighter pilots. The IAF already had women transport aircraft and helicopter pilots.