New Delhi: If all goes well, the 2024 Republic Day parade will be an all-woman affair. A letter written by the Defence Ministry to several government departments and agencies read: “After detailed deliberations, it has been decided that the Republic Day Parade, 2024, will have only women participants in the contingents (marching and band), tableaux and other performances during the Parade at Kartavya Path,” the letter stated.
Hindustan Times quoted senior government officials as saying that the move by the union government was aimed at promoting gender equality and women empowerment. It also reflects women’s growing participation in the country’s armed forces, including army and paramilitary forces.
But there is confusion among some officials. One official was quoted by Hindustan Times as saying that it was not possible to include women participants in all marching and band contingents. “Irrespective of what the letter states, the government will only do what is practical,” said another official. “For instance, women have not been inducted in the infantry, which has the maximum number of marching contingents at the parade. Officers lead the marching contingents which consist of personnel below officer rank (PBOR). The army has women in the PBOR cadre only in the Corps of Military Police,” he added.
India’s Nari Shakti
In March, Colonel Geeta Rana became the first woman army officer to assume command of an independent unit in the sensitive Ladakh sector.
In early January, Captain Shiva Chouhan became the first woman officer to be deployed at Siachen, the world’s highest and coldest battleground.
The army also deployed its largest contingent of 27 women peacekeepers in Sudan’s disputed region of Abyei, where they are performing security-related tasks in a challenging mission as part of the United Nations Interim Security Force (UNISFA).
In April , five lady cadets were commissioned into the regiment of artillery as lieutenants for the first time.
