NEW DELHI: The Indian Army inducted its first batch of the women Military Police, at soldiers level, on Saturday after a grueling training period of more than a year. The soldiers will be posted in units across the country.
The trainees successfully completed the intense 61 weeks of training on aspects related to basic military training, Provost training (which includes policing duties and management of prisoners of war), ceremonial duties and skill development (which entails driving and the maintenance of all vehicles) and communications through signals. Brigadier C Dayalan, Commandant of the CMP Centre & School reviewed the attestation parade.
The parade was conducted as a low-key event while observing all Covid-19 protocols, said Army. The Commandant of the CMP Centre & School while reviewing the parade complimented the newly attested women soldiers for their impeccable drill. At the beginning of training, 100 women were selected. As per the initial plan, shared by the Army, ten women jawans, collectively termed as a Section, will be posted with 10 CMP Provost units that were identified and pre-informed for preparations of infrastructure.
The Indian Army is likely to induct a total of 17,00 women soldier into CMP (Corps of Military Police) with the induction of 100 soldiers every year till it reaches the required number. The adjustments to cater to those leaving or unable to complete the training will be made in batches joining in future.
The decision for inducting women soldiers was announced in January, 2019 with an aim to enhance their representation in the three services. Women will eventually comprise 20% of the total CMP and their role would range from probing crime cases to assisting the Army in field operations wherever required. Currently, women are allowed to join as officers in medical, legal, education, signals and engineering wings of the Army.