Following their acceptance for permanent commission, women officers would soon lead army groups and battalions, according to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh (PC). Following a Supreme Court judgment this year, the army began giving women officers PC, allowing them to lead battalions as part of their regular career advancement. Singh made the remarks at a webinar on the role of women in the armed forces hosted by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
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Following a momentous ruling by the Supreme Court, the armed forces are prepared to admit women to the National Defence Academy (NDA), which has hitherto been a male-only institution. Next year, Singh added that women would be permitted to enter the NDA, India’s top tri-service pre-commissioning training school. After an almost 25-year break, the Indian Navy deployed four female officers on warships earlier this year. This is a critical component of ensuring a seamless and effective transition, according to the minister.
He said that women had shown themselves in every profession and excelled at the tasks they were given. Over the last six years, the number of women serving in the military has nearly tripled, with new opportunities opening up all the time. Nine thousand one hundred eighteen women were serving in the army, navy, and air force in February 2021.
General Bipin Rawat, the chief of defense staff, claimed cyberspace and outer space were the new “revolutionary realms” of warfighting in his welcoming presentation to the SCO conference. He said that the line between men’s and women’s responsibilities in modern warfighting was becoming increasingly blurred.
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After completing the required 26 years of service, the army announced in August that a selection board had approved the promotion of five female officers to the time-scale rank of colonel. Women were elevated to the position for the first time outside of the army’s medical, legal, and education wings. With the approval of PC, women are now being promoted to colonel, demonstrating that they are on par with their male colleagues, according to Captain Shalini Singh (retd), a former short-service commission officer.
