NEW DELHI: Many nations around the globe, including even Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, deploy women on warships. Some like the US and France allow women to serve on board the cramped confines of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines as well.After the Supreme Court judgement on Tuesday, which granted permanent commission (PC) to women officers in the Navy, India too will eventually have to look to follow suit. The Navy will have to get cracking on developing the requisite facilities to train and deploy women on warships, the absence of which has been used in the past to bar them from serving on board sea-faring vessels.This is also directly connected to granting PC to women because “sea time” is mandatory for promotion to the rank of Captain (equivalent to Colonel in Army ) in the Navy, except in a few branches like naval constructors and armament inspectors.Navy officers say the process will have to be gradual because it will pose administrative and operational challenges for the force. There will, for instance, have to be enough women volunteers who opt for the “tough life” on warships, which are usually sent on mission-based deployments for 70 to 90 days at a stretch.At present, the around 550 women among the over 10,000 officers in the Navy -- which has 130 warships, 17 submarines and 235 planes, helicopters and drones -- are restricted to what are called “shore-based billets and aircraft”.But the six brave women officers who circumnavigated the globe on sail boat INSV Tarini during the eight-month gruelling “Navika Sagar Parikrama” in 2017-2018 proved they are second to none in sea-going capabilities. The six, incidentally, got Nao Sena Medals for gallantry.Necessary infrastructure will be another major pre-requisite. “Except for some newer warships like the Shivalik-class frigates and Kolkata-class destroyers, the majority of our warships – mostly of Russian-origin – do not have separate bathroom, cabins and other facilities that can be used by women,” said a senior Navy officer.Added Captain D K Sharma (retd), “The Supreme Court’s decision is welcome but the Navy will have to look into the finer details like training, facilities and other aspects at every stage for implementation.”The new warships being ordered by the Navy are designed to cater for women officers, with separate cabins and bunks with attached bathrooms. “US warships, for instance, have separate areas or decks earmarked for women. In most of our warships, officers take bath in open toilets,” said another officer.“Women officers who opt to serve on warships will also have to undergo courses in anti-submarine warfare, gunnery, communications and the like. Moreover, a minimum number of women will have to be posted together on every warship. Then, women doctors will also have to be ready to go to sea. All this will take time,” he added.The Navy has progressively increased the avenues for women from three branches in 1992 to 11 non sea-going branches in 2019 but has kept them firmly away from warships, much like the Army has excluded them from combat arms like the infantry, mechanised forces and artillery.It was only recently the Navy began inducting women pilots in its maritime reconnaissance stream, with three women officers having got the “wings” to fly Dornier-228 aircraft as of now. “Eventually, the Navy will also have women flying the latest Poseidon-8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft, which have potent anti-submarine warfare capabilities,” said an officer.But the fact also remains that despite being inducted into the armed forces since the early-1990s, women officers (they are not inducted in lower ranks) currently number just 1,561 in Army, 1,610 in IAF and 550 in Navy in the 65,000-strong officer cadre in the over 14-lakh armed forces.