NEW DELHI: A move is afoot to expand the role of women in the Indian Army. Work is in process to get women inducted as soldiers soon. “A proposal is in advanced stages to get women inducted as the jawans into the Army,” said a source.
To begin with, the induction will take place into the Services followed by the Combat Support Arms, said another source. They will be inducted as women Agniveers, since June 2022, all inductions into the armed forces have been done through the Agniveer scheme.
The Indian Army is the biggest Service of the armed forces with around 1.2 million personnel. It organises its units into three categories, based on their role and functions in the battlefield. These include Combat Arms (infantry, armoured and mechanised infantry), Combat Support Arms (artillery, engineers, air defence, Army aviation, and military intelligence) and Services (Army Service Corps, Army Ordnance Corps, Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and Army Medical Corps).
Broadly, they will be inducted into those arms and services in which female officers have been allowed to serve, said a source. Women officers have been allowed to get commissioned into the Artillery. So far the Army has inducted women into the Corps of Military Police, at soldier’s level. As per the Ministry of Defence, the combat employment philosophy of women in the armed forces is a continuously evolving process and is regularly reviewed.
Other than artillery, women officers have not been granted permanent commission into infantry, armoured, artillery and mechanised infantry now. At present, there are around 1,700 women officers in the Indian Army’s ten arms and services viz. Corps of Engineers, Corps of Signals, Army Air Defence, Army Service Corps, Army Ordnance Corps, Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers, Army Aviation Corps, Intelligence Corps, Judge Advocate General Branch and Army Education Corps in addition to the Armed Forces Medical Services.
The Air Force pioneered in inducting women into combat roles beginning with three women officers commissioned as fighter pilots in June 2016. The IAF has so far commissioned 15 women fighter pilots. The women officers are now being inducted in all combat roles into the force.
The Navy, from December 2022, has decided to open every branch of the service, including the submarine and aviation, for its women officers and the Personnel Below Officers Rank (PBOR) from 2023 pursuant to its gender-neutral approach. Women officers are empowered to tenate key appointments including commanding officers in combat units of various field units.
The Indian Navy has already deputed 28 women officers onboard ships. Women officers are also deployed in combat roles onboard naval aircraft/ship-borne helicopters. Officers are given opportunities for spouse co-location, re-settlement posting and compassionate grounds posting in a gender-neutral manner.
