With women candidates set to take the National Defence Academy exams in November, the army has taken its first step towards gender equality, according to Indian Army Chief General MM Narvane.
He added that India getting a woman army chief was now a possibility.
“As we open the portals of the NDA for women cadets, we expect you to welcome them with the same sense of fair play and professionalism as Indian armed forces are known the world over. As we go ahead, we shall be inducting women cadets into NDA, and I am sure they will perform as well as the men cadets. It is just the first step towards gender equality, and the army has always been at the forefront of all such initiatives that have taken place in the country,” he said, according to news reports.
He also added that women would receive the same training as men but in a different infrastructure. Reports quoting him added, “For women’s training, the infrastructure will be a little different, but the training will be the same. With modernization and women being imparted defense training, 40 years down the lane we will see women at my position.”
The exam being held on November 14, as per the UPSC calendar, is the first and most significant step in breaking a glass ceiling over 65 years old. Till now, women have been ineligible for a permanent commission or until retirement, with their services restricted up to 14 years, barring education and legal wings.
The Indian army has the lowest representation of women in the armed forces at 0.56%, though the representation is better in the navy at 6.5 %, and the air force at 1.08%. Women have played an integral part in every aspect of the army except combat roles: infantry and armory.
Till last year, about 16 countries in the world had women in combat roles.
