Women in armed forces: Army chief welcomes SC verdict, says road map ready

Army Chief General M M Narvane said the Supreme Court judgment was a welcome decision as it brought out a sense of clarity and purpose

Army Chief General M M Narvane on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court’s verdict awarding permanent commission and command to women in military. In his first reaction, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) said the verdict brought out a sense of clarity and purpose to gainfully employ officers for better efficiency of the organisation. 

“I must assured that everybody in the Indian Army, including women officers, will be given equal opportunity to contribute to the Nation as also progress in their careers. The decision of the Supreme Court is a welcome decision as it brings out a sense of clarity and purpose,” the general said. 

Talking about the implementation of the order, which requires an overhaul in the policy and norms of command, the chief said: “Our first task at hand is to comply with the SC order; we have made a road map to implement it.” Letters are being sent to women officers asking whether they would prefer permanent commissioning, the COAS said.

He added: “We found the Supreme Court judgment on permanent commissioning of women very enabling; Army has been championing gender equality. Indian Army does not discriminate any soldier based on religion, caste, creed, or even gender. The outlook of the Indian Army has been like this throughout and that is why we started inducting women officers as early as in 1993.” 

Short Service Commission women officers Anjali Bisht, Seema Singh and Sandhya Yadav flash victory sign outside the Supreme Court. PTI

The apex court in its verdict rejected the defence ministry’s argument that “(Indian) troops are not yet mentally schooled to accept women officers in command of units” because they (the men) are “predominantly drawn from a rural background.” Women already serve in combat roles in the air force, which last year qualified its first women fighter pilots.

The Army chief spoke on a number of issues, including the ongoing deliberations related to Pakistan at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary stating, “Pakistan may have to rethink strategy as even China realised they cannot back all-weather friend all the time". The global group on Tuesday recommended the continuation of Pakistan in the 'Grey List' for its failure to check terror funding and a final decision will be taken on Friday. 

Talking about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, the general said,  terror incidents have seen a downturn and the Army is maintaining pressure on terror groups. He had recently visited the forward posts and reviewed the operational preparedness. 

On the proposed creation of a theatre command exclusively for J&K, he said there will be detailed discussions before anything is finalised.