The decision to induct women officers in the Artillery was taken on March 20, Minister of State for Defence, Ajay Bhatt informed the Lok Sabha on March 31. He was replying to a question by BJP MP from Vadodara, Ranjanben Dhananjay Bhatt, who had asked whether the government proposes to include women in the Artillery units and if so, the steps taken in this regard so far.

“Government has approved the induction of women in the Regiment of Artillery on March 20, 2023,” the minister said in his one line reply.

General Manoj Pande, the Chief of Army Staff, in January had announced that a proposal to induct woman officers in the Regiment of Artillery had been sent to the government. The General had said at the time that gender empowerment in the Army is a focus area and that women are expected to do very well in the Artillery.

The exact number of woman officers who will be inducted into Artillery will only be known at the time of the commission of the next batch from Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai later this year.

Artillery is a combat support arm of the Army and is the largest in size after the Infantry. The Artillery Regiments comprise various calibres of guns, surface to surface missiles, tracked guns, mortars and unmanned aerial platforms.

On March 1, Centre also approved the induction of woman officers in Remount and Veterinary Corps. Out of 20 officers inducted into RVC in 2023, four are women, informed Ajay Bhatt in Parliament.

The regiments and Corps of the Army are divided into Arms and Services. The Arms include Infantry, Armoured Corps, Artillery, Engineers, Signals, Army Air Defence, Army Aviation Corps and Military Intelligence. With the latest government decision, women will now serve in all arms barring Infantry and Armoured Corps, which are considered to be fighting arms.

In addition, woman officers also serve in Services which include Army Service Corps (ASC), Army Ordnance Corps (AOC), Army Education Corps (AEC), Judge Advocate General Branch (JAG Br), Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME), Army Medical Corps, Army Dental Corps and Remount and Veterinary Corps (RVC). They also serve as nursing officers in Military Nursing Service.

As per data shared in the Parliament on March 17 by the MoS, there are 6,993 woman officers serving in the Army currently, including Army Medical Corps/ Army Dental Corps and Military Nursing Service officers.

The induction of woman officers in the Army was approved in 1992 by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs as Short Service Cadre. The first batch of 25 women officers were commissioned into Army Service Corps (ASC), Army Ordnance Corps (AOC), Army Education Corps (AEC) and Judge Advocate General (JAG) Department in March 1993.

In November 2021, the government promulgated a gender neutral career progression policy for women officers after they were granted permanent commission. This provided equal opportunities to woman officers in the Arms and Services where they are commissioned.

In another recent decision, the defence services have also opened entry for woman candidates in NDA with 19 cadets, including 10 for Army, joining the academy every six months. First batch of woman cadets has started training in NDA with effect from July 2022 and second batch from January 2023.

Since 2021, Army has also opened avenues for woman officers to serve as pilots in the Army Aviation Corps.

Women officers are also being considered for Colonel (Select Grade) ranks and are being given command appointments.

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A total of 244 women officers are being considered for promotion against the vacancies — from the batch of 1992 to 2006 — in arms and services including Engineers, Signals, Army Air Defence, Intelligence Corps, Army Service Corps, Army Ordnance Corps and Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.

Until 19 January, 80 women officers had been cleared for the rank of Colonel from Lieutenant Colonel by the Special No. 3 Selection Board whose proceedings began on January 9.

Unlike other promotion boards, this one is being held every day for a particular batch, starting with the 1992 batch, and the results are being declared on the same day.

This clearance grants women officers parity with their male counterparts. Earlier, with a limited period career in the force, there were no promotion avenues for women officers to become a Colonel and command a unit like male Army officers.

It is not that women officers did not reach the rank of Colonel or beyond in the past, but they were only in two branches — the Judge Advocate General (JAG) branch and the Army Education Corps — where they were granted permanent commission in 2008.

However, these were staff appointments — which are more administrative in nature — and not purely command appointments in which an officer commands troops on ground.

The Supreme Court’s order to grant permanent commission to women Army officers in February 2020 opened the doors for promotion to women officers across all streams of the Army, except pure combat arms. With a longer career in the Army, women officers will be considered for promotions, including to the rank of Colonel and beyond.

Why did it take so long?

An officer in the Army is promoted to the rank of Colonel only after serving between 16 and 18 years, based on certain criteria such as annual confidential reports and various courses.

Women officers who were inducted into the Army were inducted as Short Service Commission (SSC) officers in 1992 and in the years after did not have the choice to opt for permanent commission. JAG and Army Education Corps were exceptions, where a permanent commission was opened for them in 2008.

For other arms and services, women could not become permanent cadre, and had to retire much before they completed the service period that is mandatory to become a Colonel.

Supreme Court order of 2020

In 2019, the Army changed its rules allowing SSC women officers to opt for permanent commission who would have otherwise retired after 14 years of service. However, this was not retrospective, and applied only to the batches of women officers starting their career in the Army in 2020.

With the landmark Supreme Court judgment of February 2020, permanent commission was granted to women officers with retrospective effect. This opened the doors for their further growth and promotions in the Army, which has been of late opening leadership and higher management courses for women.

Commanding of a unit

Once promoted to a Colonel, an officer is eligible to command troops directly in the Army, which is an acknowledgment of the leadership qualities of the officer. It is considered a coveted appointment because in no other rank — including higher ranks like Brigadier or Major General — does an officer interact directly with troops on the ground.

Multiple women officers told The Indian Express that for them it was a dream to reach this point in their career. Despite working at the grassroots level as junior officers, women officers hitherto did not get an opportunity to prove their leadership skills as they were not eligible to command a unit. For a woman officer, this is an empowering move.

Arms and Services A ffected

Women officers in many streams of the Army, including the Army Air Defence, Signals, Engineers, Army Aviation, Electronics and Mechanical Engineers, Army Service Corps, Army Ordnance Corps, and Intelligence Corps will be commanding units.

They are still not eligible in core combat arms such as Infantry, Mechanised Infantry and Armoured Corps, as the Army is not open to women fighting wars at the borders as foot soldiers. Much of this resistance stems from past instances of male soldiers being taken as prisoners of war and tortured by the enemy.

However, the Army has recently decided to open the Corps of Artillery, a combat support arm, to women.

Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force

Women officers have been inducted into all branches of the Navy, and they will be eligible for permanent commission in the future. Women officers can command shore-based units and, as they join the service and become eligible for permanent commission, they would be able to command ships and air squadrons.

The IAF has opened all branches for women officers, including the fighter stream and the new weapon systems branch. As they are granted permanent commission based on eligibility and vacancies, they will be eligible to command units in the future.

The Army, being the largest of the three services, has the largest number of women officers at 1,705, followed by 1,640 women officers in the IAF, and 559 in the Navy. This data was submitted by the government to Parliament last year.

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The court was hearing the plea seeking to allow women to take part in the NDA exams. The Bench asked ASG to place on record the developments through an affidavit. Earlier, the top court had in an interim order allowed women to take the NDA exam which was scheduled for September 5, and had also slammed the Indian Army for the decisions that are based on ‘gender discrimination’.

The plea filed by advocate Kush Kalra stated that denial of opportunity to women candidates to enroll at the NDA was violative of Articles 14, 15, 16, and 19 of the Constitution. The petition was filed in light of the directions issued by the top court on the extension of Permanent Commission to Short Service Commissioned women officers of the Indian Army.

“After the passing of the judgment in the matter of Secretary, Ministry of Defence vs Babita Puniya by this Court, Permanent Commission has been extended to the Women Officers of the Army. However, there is still no mode of entry available to female candidates to join the Armed Forces as Permanent Commission Officers. In the present state of affairs, female candidates have to apply through the appropriate mode of entry into the Armed Forces as a Short Service Commissioned Officer and after serving for a certain period of time, have the option to opt for Permanent Commission,” the plea said.

“The government allows unmarried male candidates having adequate 10 2 qualification to take the National Defence Academy and Naval Academy Examination, however, eligible and willing female candidates are not allowed to take this Examination on the sole ground of their sex and without any reasonable or justifiable explanations,” the petitioner contended.

Ministry’s Plan

Entrance exams for entry into the NDA are held twice a year and the government proposes to have the necessary mechanism in place for induction of women candidates by May, 2022. That is the time by which UPSC is expected to publish its first notification for the entrance exam.

The three service chiefs visited the NDA on August 20 to take stock of the situation and prepare the academy for the arrival of women as trainees on its premises.

Medical standards for women candidates are in the process of formulation.

Aspects of physical training that the women candidates will have to undergo are required to be formulated separately. Curriculum and parameters regarding drills, equitation, swimming, games, sports etc will have to be formulated separately for women.

Any dilution of physical training for the women candidates on parameters such as firing, endurance training, living off the land etc would invariably impact the battle-worthiness of the Armed Forces adversely.

One key facet of accommodation of women candidates has to be the robust physical separation between the male and female residential areas. The number of cabins for women candidates (catering to increase in nos. each term) will have to be expanded till a permanent plan fructifies.

Security and privacy arrangements, physical segregation of living quarters, associated physical and electronic surveillance like women orderlies, women duty officers etc will have to be worked out.

Gynaecologists, sports medicine specialists, counsellors, nursing staff, lady attendants will be required to be posted at the Military Hospital, Khadakwasla. The capacity of officers’ family wards will also have to be increased.

A study group comprising of experts has been constituted to expeditiously formulate a curriculum for women cadets and a Board of Officers has been convened to give a ‘holistic and future proposal’ for training women candidates at the NDA.

Comments

The first batch of women officers was given commission in the Navy in 1992. It has taken close to 30 years for women to be given direct permanent commission.

To understand what gaining entry into the defence services through the NDA means, a look at the various options for entry would be pertinent. The NDA recruits personnel right after leaving school. Another mode of entry is through the Combined Defence Services (CDS) exam, which is meant for graduates. Commissions through both channels are permanent. Besides, there is a permanent commission for those who have done their post-graduation, which is usually for engineers, electronics and mechanical engineers (EMEs), judge and advocate general (JAGs), signals, army educational corps (AECs), etc. The Officer Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai and Gaya recruits short service commission officers, both men and women. This is presently the only entry option available for women.

At present, the top positions in the army, navy and air force are usually manned by NDA recruits. The reason is simple. NDA recruits have an advantage as their entry age is between 16.5 and 19. In defence services, where retirement age is tied to the rank held, the youngest in a batch have a very clear benefit.

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