The government last year had also said women officers would be allowed to opt for permanent commission in some... Read More

NEW DELHI: The Army on Thursday began the process to recruit women as jawans or soldiers for the first time, with the eventual aim to constitute 20% of the military police cadre from their ranks.

The armed forces have till now inducted women only as officers, and have not allowed them to join the “fighting arms” like the infantry, armoured corps and artillery or serve on operational warships. Women number just about 1,500 in Army, 1,600 in IAF and 500 in Navy in the 65,000-strong officer cadre in the over 14 lakh armed forces.

The government last year had announced that women would be inducted as soldiers or PBOR (personnel below officer rank) in the military police from 2019 onwards.

The Army plans to induct around 800 women in the military police, with a yearly intake of over 50 personnel to assist in probing criminal cases like rapes and molestations as well as preserving “good order and discipline” in military formations. “They can also be used in crowd control and frisking of women protesters in disturbed areas,” said an officer.

Towards this end, the Army on Thursday began online registration for women for recruitment in the military police, with the last date for applications being June 8.

The government last year had also said women officers would be allowed to opt for permanent commission in some other branches of the armed forces like ordnance, signals, engineers, intelligence, air defence, logistics and air traffic control, apart from the existing ones like legal and education.

Incidentally, apart from the around 100 short-service commission (SSC) women pilots of helicopters and transport aircraft, the IAF is now also training six women to be fighter pilots “on an experimental basis for five years”. In the Navy, the first batch of women SSC pilots in the maritime reconnaissance stream are also currently undergoing training.



In Video: Army starts process to start recruitment of women into military police