Indian Army suggested administration to induct women in artillery regiment

Role of Women in the Indian Armed forces have only exceeded with time. Started with Indian Military nursing service in 1888 to becoming a part of Women’s Royal Indian Naval service and Rani of Jhansi regiment, today National Defense Academy has opened its entrance examination for female cadets. After the Supreme Court’s judgement in 2021, female candidates have been allowed to sit in NDA entrance exam. Women were not allowed to serve in combat units such as armoured corps, infantry, artillery and mechanized infantry in India until Army Chief General Manoj Pande in a press conference before Army day said that Army has decided to commission women officers into the artillery regiments and a proposal on it has been sent to the government.

If the proposal gets accepted, this will be first time women commissioned officers in India will give perform their duty in artillery regiment which is said to be a fighting arm of the Indian army. Watching women participation and their strength in ground operations will inspire number of candidates. ‘We have decided to induct women in artillery which itself is significant as we believe that they will be able to not only measure up but perform well in all the duties and appointments’, said General Pande.

Anjali Malhotra is 18 years old and aspires to serve in Indian army. Her father is a government employee and believes there is nothing better than working for administration in whatever way possible. He said, ‘My daughter is preparing for NDA entrance exam. Since Indian administration has opened gates for females to become a part of Indian army, Anjali is determined to clear the exam. She always wanted to a part of it but never discussed it with us briefly. After 2021, she shared with us about her future plans and why not gives it a chance. She has always been a bright student. And being a government employee myself, I think serving the nation in whatever way is a privilege that should be valued.’ For getting admission in National Defense Academy, one has to clear two stages- written test and SSB interview. If candidate clears the written test, then only they’ll be calling by the Service Selection Board for interview.

Indian army has already taken multiple decisions to assure female presence on field for long term. In the press conference, Army Chief mentioned about one of such and said, ‘You are aware of the permanent commission that we have granted to women officers which will then prepare them for major leadership roles in terms of command of various establishments and units.’ He further added, ‘Those who have been granted permanent commission are now training them in other professional courses. They will be then eligible for selection for future responsibilities’. More than 10 numbers of regiments of Indian Army has commissioned women including Army aviation Corps and Territorial Army. However, the current proposal to allow women in artillery is a special one for aspirants like Anjali.

According to her, it is one of the significant reasons why she is driven to do this. ‘During my childhood I was the only one alone playing at my garden with my toy guns. Then slowly I got interested in knowing more about Indian Army and later it became my dream to be one of them. So the combat roles have always attracted me from the very start. And today, women are not employed only for treating soldiers. They are on field, standing equally with their counterparts for their country and to make citizens feel they are protected’, she said. Anjali feel it is a progressive action taken by Indian Army and moving on this direction will only make army toughest and strongest.

Why when we talk about Army, we talk about men? In 2021, Supreme Court of India was disappointed with Army authorities for discriminating against women officers. ‘Senior women officers are forced to serve under junior gentleman officers in a highly seniority conscious organization like Indian Army and they are being posted as additional officers, being treated as superseded or re-employed officers, to carry out jobs which are generally assigned to captain or major rank officers’, said advocate V. Mohana according to an available report. Anjali agrees with biasness and told EAT news, ‘It is everywhere, be it the corporate, entertainment, sports, marriage etc. People with this mentality are in every field. Definitely the question is correct, why women are not given opportunity to stand up for their nation? It was the men who were considered first. We had freedom fighter like Rani Laxmi Bai, Basanti Devi, Bina Das, Jhalkari Bai and many more.’

‘Not only men sacrificed, women also participated in battlefields. Indian history has lot of names. More and more women presence in Indian Army can change gender biasness and decisions like deploying women in artillery regiment would be a positive change in itself’, added Anjali. Indian administration still has to approve the proposal for implying the decision physically but until, the move by Indian Army is well appreciated by everyone including female aspirants.