Women Made Up Nearly Third Of Applicants In NDA Exam: Centre

Around a third of the applicants for the National Defence Academy were women, the central government told the parliament on Monday, December 13.

This was informed in response to a query raised by BJD's Amar Patnaik in Rajya Sabha. Of the total 5,75,856 applicants, nearly 1,77,654 were women candidates taking the examination, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said.

Infrastructure & Facilities For Female Cadets

Bhatt informed that the academy was equipped with proper infrastructure and facilities for training the female candidates. In addition, the necessary medical standards required were also mentioned in the UPSC notification.

So far, women can serve in select branches of the Army, Air Force and Navy, and the physical standards for the cadets are yet to be finalised.

Supreme Court On Women In NDA

The development comes after the Supreme Court asked the centre to allow women to appear for the NDA exam in November. The government has sought to extend their induction by one more year.

In its affidavit, the ministry had asked for a reasonable time to formulate policies for the intake of female candidates, from the required medical standards considering their age to the nature of training given to them. The ministry also needed to build residential quarters for women with physical separation, including separate bathroom cubicles.

Hearing the plea, the Apex Court had said that they did not want women to be denied their rights. "....needful be done by defence department in collaboration with UPSC," the top court had added.

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