WOMEN OFFICERS IN ARMY

• About 108 women officers in the Army were cleared for the rank of Colonel by a special selection board, this will make them eligible to command units and troops in their respective arms and services.
• It will grant women officers parity with their male counterparts.
• Now with a long career in the Army, women officers will be considered for promotions, including to the rank of Colonel and beyond.
• Earlier only two branches; the Judge Advocate General (JAG) branch and the Army Education Corps granted permanent commissions to women in 2008.
• In 2020, the Supreme Court’s order to grant permanent commissions to women Army officers opened the doors for promotion to women officers across all streams of the Army, except pure combat arms.

4. Why did their Colonel promotions come so late? 

• An officer in the Army is promoted to the rank of Colonel only after serving between 16 and 18 years, based on certain criteria such as annual confidential reports and various courses.
• Women officers who were inducted into the Army were inducted as Short Service Commission (SSC) officers in 1992 and in the years after did not have the choice to opt for permanent commission.
• JAG and Army Education Corps were exceptions, where a permanent commission was opened for them in 2008.
• For other arms and services, women could not become permanent cadre, and had to retire much before they completed the service period that is mandatory to become a Colonel.

5. Supreme Court Orders in 2020

• In 2019, the Army changed its rules allowing SSC women officers to opt for permanent commission who would have otherwise retired after 14 years of service.
• However, this was not retrospective, and applied only to the batches of women officers starting their career in the Army in 2020.
• With the landmark Supreme Court judgment of February 2020, permanent commission was granted to women officers with retrospective effect.
• This opened the doors for their further growth and promotions in the Army, which has been of late opening leadership and higher management courses for women.

6. What is a Commanding Unit Mean?

• Women officers in many streams of the Army, including the Army Air Defence, Signals, Engineers, Army Aviation, Electronics and Mechanical Engineers, Army Service Corps, Army Ordnance Corps, and Intelligence Corps will be commanding units.
• They are still not eligible in core combat arms such as Infantry, Mechanised Infantry and Armoured Corps, as the Army is not open to women fighting wars at the borders as foot soldiers.
• Much of this resistance stems from past instances of male soldiers being taken as prisoners of war and tortured by the enemy.

For Prelims & Mains