Woman Officers: Bullet knows no gender

Armed forces need to accept the fact that more women officers will join their ranks and gender equality will occupy the centre stage. This requires attitudinal change in the predominantly male environ. A new set of directives and ground rules need to be worked out for women officers to pursue a credible career.
Bullet knows no gender
Lt Gen (Dr) S.B.S. Kochar (Retd)

Dawn of the new millennium has ushered in fresh hopes and challenges. The established order, where women took a back seat is in the process of imminent fade-out. Many exclusive male bastions and preserves are now extinct. Women have emerged as powerful portents of a new social order and are set to match men, stride for stride. Armed Forces are no exception.

No doubt the demands on national security and military cannot be swayed by attitudes and assumptions. All specialties should be open on a gender neutral standard to those who are qualified, capable and competent to undertake them. Major issues confronted by militaries the world over in so far as employment of women concerned, are social, behavioral and psychological. This is not to say that they must not be trained in the art of soldiering — they must

The strength of women officers in the army is just over a thousand (excluding medical stream) The present policy is to them grant short service commission for five years extendable to 14 years with identical benefits as available to similarly placed male officers. Permanent commission has been granted to women in Judge Advocate General’s Department and Army Education Corps. They are not assigned to the combat Arms. The strength of women officers in the air force who have served so far is 570 and in the navy, 250.
Bullet knows no gender by Lt Gen (Dr) S.B.S. Kochar (Retd)
The writer is a former Commandant of the National Defence Academy

High time army sheds retrograde outlook
Why not a permanent commission? This is the question that arises in the mind of each woman soldier, which is very much her right at par with gentleman officers who are granted permanent commission. When Article 14 of the Constitution guarantees right to equality, then why and how this gender bias set in, that too in one of the nation’s most robust system, the Indian Army? Click link below to read more...
High time army sheds retrograde outlook by Maj Seema Dagar- The writer served with the Army from 1997—2007 and is Manager, Delhi International Airport Ltd.