Indian Army: Process To Grant Permanent Commission To Women Officers Begins

New Delhi: Indian Army has begun the process to grant Permanent Commission to eligible women officers, nearly two weeks after the defence ministry approved the proposal, reported Zee News.

According to Officials, the Army headquarters has invited applications for the grant of Permanent Commission (PC) to women officers recruited under Women Special Entry Scheme (WSES) and Short Service Commission (SSC) by August 31.

“Consequent to the receipt of formal government sanction letter for grant of PC to women officers in Indian Army, the Army headquarters is in the process of convening a special number selection board for screening women officers for grant of PC,” said an Army statement, quoted by Zee News.

The officials have said that women officers who joined the Army through the WSES and SSC are being considered for the grant of PC. The Ministry of Defence had also issued an order for the grant of PC to women officers in the Army last month. The 10 streams where PC of women officers are being made available include army air defence, signals, engineers, army aviation, electronics and mechanical engineers, army service corps and intelligence corps.

At present, the Army offers a permanent commission to women officers in only two branches, judge advocate general (JAG) and education. Under SSC, women officers are initially taken for a period of five years, which can be extended up to 14 years. With Permanent Commissioning, they can serve until the age of retirement.

Women officers under SSC are recruited for streams like air defence, engineering, signals and services for which they can serve a maximum of 14 years. The three services have allowed permanent recruitment of women in select streams including medical, education, legal, signals, logistics and engineering.

While the Navy allows the permanent commission to women in departments like logistics, naval designing, air traffic control, engineering and legal, the Supreme court in February directed Army to grant permanent commission to all serving women officers recruited under the short service schemes.