Women officers in command soon

Subject: Defence

Section :Msc

Concept:

The Indian Army has initiated the process for the selection of women officers for command postings such as the rank of Colonel, which hitherto have been the domain of male officers.
The vacancies for the Special No. 3 Selection Board were announced by the government to promote women officers in order to ensure gender parity in the Army.
244 women officers are being considered for promotion from the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel to Colonel against 108 vacancies.
This move is in line with the judgment by the Supreme Court which upheld an earlier judgement that granted permanent commission and command postings to women officers in all arms and services other than combat.
Following this judgment by the Supreme Court, theArmy has granted Permanent Commission (PC) to women officers on a par with the male officers.
Fuhrer, five women officers have cleared the Defence Services Staff Course (DSSC) and the Defence Services Technical Staff Course (DSTSC) Exam recently for the first time ever.
These five officers will undergo a one-year course and will be given adequate weightage while being considered for command roles.

Permanent Commission for Women

Under the Short Service Commission (SSC) scheme, women were commissioned into the Army for a period of 10 years, extendable up to 14 years.
Women were, however, restricted to roles in specified streams such as Army Education Corps, Corps of Signals, Intelligence Corps, and Corps of Engineers. These specified streams excluded combat arms such as infantry and armoured corps.
While male SSC officers could opt for permanent commission at the end of 10 years of service, this option was not available to women officers.
Women officers, were, thus, kept out of any command appointment, and could not qualify for government pension, which starts only after 20 years of service as an officer.
However, in the February 2019 policy statement, the Government endorsed the permanent commission for SSC women officers in 10 streams of the ‘Combat Support Arms’ and ‘Services’ sections.
A Permanent Commission means a career in the Army till you retire.
But it was said that the women officers would not be offered any command appointments, and would serve only in staff posts.