Army Begins Process To Grant Permanent Commission To Women Officers

New Delhi: A special selection board to screen women officers for grant of Permanent Commission (PC) in the Army has commenced its proceedings, according to a Defence Ministry release on Saturday.

The release informed that the Special Number 5 Selection Board, which is headed by a Senior General Officer and includes a woman officer of the rank of Brigadier, commenced its proceedings at the Army Headquarters on September 14.

According to the release, women officers are permitted to attend the proceedings as observers in order to add transparency to the process.

Women officers who qualify in the screening process will be granted PC subject to being in the minimum acceptable medical category.

Earlier in July, the government had issued a sanction letter for grant of PC to women officers in the Army, paving the way for women officers to get larger roles in the organization, Financial Express reported.

The order specified the grant of PC to Short Service Commissioned (SSC) Women Officers in all 10 streams of the Army.

The 10 ten streams are Signals, and Intelligence Corps, Army Air Defence (AAD), Engineers, Army Service Corps (ASC), Army Ordnance Corps (AOC), Army Aviation, Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME). These are in addition to the existing streams of Judge and Advocate General (JAG) and Army Educational Corps (AEC).