Explore greater role for women: Antony tells armed forces

As the clamour to induct women in combat roles in the armed forces is increasing, Defence Minister AK Antony on Monday asked the armed forces to explore more avenues to woman in services. 

 

Even though the armed forces have been inducting women as Short Service Commissioned (SSC) officers, there has been resistance within the services to give them a combat role. It was only a couple of years back that the forces decided to make women permanent officers in the legal, education, accounts and naval constructor branches.

In his meeting with the three service chiefs – Admiral Nirmal Verma, General VK Singh and Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne – Antony “directed the three Chiefs to explore more avenues for giving permanent commission to women in the Armed forces”.

The present strength of women officers in the three services of the Armed Forces is - Army 1055, Air Force 936 and Navy 232. According to figures available, there has been a 67 per cent increase in recruitment of women officers into the army, navy and air force since 2009. As many as 781 women joined the armed forces as officers during this period. The army alone inducted 343 women, the navy 129 and the air force 309. These figures do not include the women officers joining the armed forces medical services.

In 2006 Delhi-based Integrated Defence Staff had carried out a study for giving greater role for women officers and the report was submitted in 2011 recommending against giving fighting duties to women.

India’s neighbours - Pakistan and China – have already commissioned women fighter pilots in its forces. However, the Indian Armed Forces have been against the idea of women in combat roles citing social and cultural fabric of the country. According data available in open domain, the US has about 3,700 fighter pilots and 70 of them are women. Many of these women fighter pilots had even flown bombing missions over Afghanistan in 2001.

The Indian Navy also recently started having women officers as "observers" and still does not have any women pilots for its helicopters and aircraft. The force does not even post its women officers on board warships after its initial experiment project failed to take off in the absence of accommodation facilities for women. (Read the story I did in 2009 Indian Navy learns from Nations with women onboard warships).

For the Indian Army it is still the question of a woman commanding the troops - majority of which comes from the Indian hinterland- where taking orders from the fairer sex is not the norm. Also the force has cited the living accommodation for women in forward areas a huge logistical and practical problem.