How should authorities react if there is an affair between a lady officer and a jawan while serving in field areas together? What will be the support system for families of defence couples when both are deployed away from home for many days?

Even as the clamour for allowing women in combat is rising, these are a few of the many legal and social issues being discussed by the armed forces while preparing a comprehensive policy under the Defence Ministry.

"We have to address all possible legal fallouts as well as prepare answers to issues that may arise before women are inducted in combat roles," a military official told Mail Today.

After the Narendra Modi government planned to open up more avenues for women officers, the Air Force has started training them on experimental basis for flying combat aircrafts. Women will shortly undergo armament training at Kalaikunda air base in West Bengal.

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Forces are now trying to find answers for sensitive issues such as an affair between a lady officer and a jawan and how to deal with it. "There is no clarity on this aspect," the official added.

Sources in the military said it would be the Army and Navy where the effects would be felt more as personnel are deployed outside their bases for days or even months at a stretch.

"If a warship sets out for sails, it remains on the high seas for months and similarly, if an infantry battalion is deployed on the LoC or Siachen Glacier, it has to be there for at least 90 days. How would women manage in such situations need to be looked into," an official said.

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Another major issue forces are encountering is of pregnancy of lady officers and how the forces would have to find their replacement. "One position cannot be allowed to be left vacant for one to one-and-half years from the time the lady officer is pregnant till a few months after delivery. Therefore, requisite manpower would have to be deployed," the official added.

But one of the biggest issues forces feel would arise in future is about providing family support to lady officers. "A foreign lady General from a militarily powerful country had come to India recently. When autho-rities asked her how she managed her family, she said due to lack of infrastructure support, she preferred not to have children," said an official.

"Now, we cannot have a situation where we can ask lady officers not to have children. But if women are inducted, we have to provide a complete infrastructure to support their families where children can be taken care of," he added.

Policy makers are also looking at a situation where both husband and wife have to leave for a long deployment. "We will have to have answers for this situation such as creating facilities where the child can be kept and taken care of for that period," he further said.

Another issue is that of matching up to physical standards that are applicable to male officers and cannot be made lenient in any way for women.

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