Answer by Cdr Rathore: Sir, the Ministry of Defence has issued the formal government sanction letter for grant of Permanent Commission (PC) to Women Officers in the Indian Army. The Supreme Court had already given its verdict (in Feb 2020) that the Govt should implement permanent commission to all serving Short Service Commissioned (SSC) women officers in the Army. The order specifies grant of permanent commission to SSC Women Officers in ten streams of the Indian Army i.e. Army Air Defence, Signals, Engineers, Army Aviation, EME, Army Service Corps, Army Ordnance Corps, and Intelligence Corps in addition to the existing streams of Judge and Advocate General (JAG) and Army Educational Corps. Women officers are not yet allowed in the combat arms of the Army (Artillery, Infantry, mechanized Infantry, and Armoured Corps).
The selection board for women officers will be scheduled by the Army as soon as all affected SSC women officers exercise their option and complete requisite documentation. While male SSC officers could opt for permanent commission at the end of 10 years of service, this option was not available to women officers. They were, thus, kept out of any command appointment, and could not qualify for government pension, which starts only after 20 years of service as an officer.
Women are not permitted to serve onboard the warships and submarines in the Indian Navy. In March 2020, the SC cleared way for permanent commission to women in Indian Navy, saying “the battle for gender equality is about confronting the battles of the mind”. The Navy has allowed permanent commission of women in a host of departments such as logistics, naval designing, air traffic control, engineering, and law.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has already inducted eight women fighter pilots. The women officers in the IAF were already flying transport aircrafts and helicopters till 2016. The women officers recruited through the SSC in the IAF have the option of seeking permanent commission in all streams except the flying branch.
Note: The Indian Army has 50,266 sanctioned posts for officers, while the posts currently occupied are 40,825 including 1,653 by women officers. Thus, there is shortage of 9,441 officers in the Indian Army. It is noteworthy that there are total of 1,653 women officers which is a miniscule 4 % of the total strength of commissioned officers in the Army.