Even if you wish to fight for your country, there are rules which prevent you from doing so. Among them was an army regulation that only allowed short service commission, or SSC, for female officers. Now, the Ministry of Defence has announced that a change in this recruitment rule is underway. According to officials, “Women officers will be granted Permanent Commission in the Indian Army in all the ten branches where women are inducted for Short Service Commission.”
This rule applies to nine branches of the Army: Corps of Signals, Engineers, Army Aviation, Army Air Defence, Electronics and Mechanical Engineers, Army Service Corps, Army Ordnance Corps, and the Intelligence Corps. The ministry official stated.
SSC And Its Restrictions
Short service commission allowed women to serve as officers in the Army. But, it didn’t allow them to have ranks and titles. SSC also only allowed women a tenure of 10 plus four years–the four being subject to review. This meant that female officers in the Indian Army, until now, could only serve for up to 14 years.
How This Change Will Help
Once this guideline allowing women to be considered for permanent commissions is implemented, female officers who have served four years in the Army under SSC, will be considered based on their “suitability and merit”, if they apply for it.
Permanent Commissions Were Allowed In The Air Force Recently
Avani Chaturvedi, Mohana Singh, and Bhawana Kanth made history by becoming the first female fighter pilots in the Indian Air Force in 2016. Hina Jaiswal also made news for becoming the first female flight engineer in the Indian Air Force.
In the Navy, however, women are only allowed to get permanent commissions in the Naval Armament department. According to reports, that might change soon as well. “In addition to education, law and naval constructor branch, women SSC officers have been made eligible for grant of PC in the naval armament branch, on par with the male officers,” the Ministry officials added.
With this development in the army, it seems women are gradually being allowed on the front lines of defence forces in India. Now with female officers on board, women will be allowed to show how capable they are of making the nation proud!