NEW DELHI: Avani Chaturvedi, Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh have made it to the history books. Following Modi government’s initiative, they have become the first women fighter pilots to be commissioned by the Indian Air Force on Saturday. But ironically, the Army is struggling with sharp decline in its women workforce. The force has seen nearly 50 per cent decline in women officers in the past six years.
In 1992, the Army had opened its doors for women in Short Service Commission (SSC) and it picked slowly with 166 women officers passing out in 2011. However, the induction rate of women took a steep dive to just over 100 in 2014. And in 2015, when Indian Army’s first all-women contingent marched on Rajpath on the Republic Day, showcasing India’s “Naari Shakti”, the number of women officers in the army was only left with only 75. This year, the number of women officers went down to 61.
Since 1992, the Army has not re-assessed the requirement of women officers strength. Now, after induction of women in fighter stream in the IAF, there will be increased focus and demand to further strengthen the number of women officers, sources said.
The Army Headquarters explained the downward trend by stating that exit of women officers from Indian Army is negligible due to pending litigations in the Supreme Court.
Quantum of induction through any entry is always guided by organisational requirements and forecasted as per the number of persons leaving the service due to voluntary discharge or superannuation (retirement), Army headquarters claims. At present, the Indian Army has an acute shortage of more than 9,000 officers and the number is likely to increase with the raising of new strike corps.
Military analysts believe that in these Arms and Services, which form a sizeable part of the Army, women can be gainfully employed to somehow reduce the shortfall.
The Sunday Standard, while speaking to several women candidates appearing for the SSB, came to know that many women were inclined to join the Army after seeing first women officers marching on Rajpath and left their lucrative jobs. But many of them were disappointed by their decision as there was a sudden reduction in vacancies for women in the Army.
This year, the Indian Military Academy (IMA) has a capacity of 275 male cadets. Only 150 of them could clear the SSB and the remaining positions were left vacant due to shortage of suitable candidates. In case of women, 22 cleared the SSB. But all of them could not make it to the final list as there were only five vacancies.
Soumya Sharma (name changed) says, “I am working as an advocate with Chandigarh High Court. Even after clearing the SSB, I could not make it as there were only four vacancies.”
The current notification of Combined Defence Services gives 375 vacancies for men and only five for women. There are only four vacancies left for the position of Judge Advocate General (JAG). Pooja Singh (name changed) from Chattisgarh says, “Joining the Army was a dream for me as I am from a small town. I have cleared the SSB for JAG entry and I feel proud about it. However, my chances are low as there are only four vacancies.”