Indian Army begins process to grant permanent commission to women officers

New Delhi, Aug 5: Nearly after two weeks when the defence ministry approved the proposal to grant Permanent Commission to women officers, the Indian Army has begun the process to invite applications from them. The Army headquarters stated women officers who have recruited under Women Special Entry Scheme (WSES) and Short Service Commission Women (SSCW) should submit related documents by August 31.

 

 

 

"Consequent to the receipt of formal Government Sanction Letter for grant of Permanent Commission (PC) to Women Officers in Indian Army, the Army HQ is in the process of convening a Special Number 5 Selection Board for screening women officers for grant of PC. Towards this end, detailed administrative instructions have been issued to all affected women officers giving out guidelines for submission of applications for consideration by the Board," the Army said in a statement.

 

Last month, the ministry issued an order for grant of PC to women officers in the Army after the apex court in February instructed that all serving women officers recruited under the short service schemes will have to be considered for PC.

 

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. Currently, the Army offers a permanent commission to women officers in two branches -- judge advocate general (JAG) and education.

 

Originally, under SSC, women officers are taken for a period of five years which can be extendable up to 14 years. However, the Permanent commissioning will allow them to serve until the age of retirement. The three services have allowed permanent recruitment of women in select streams including medical, education, legal, signals, logistics and engineering.

 

The Army recruits women officers under SSC for streams like air defence, engineering, signals and services and they can serve up to a maximum of 14 years. The women officers recruited through the SSC in the IAF have the option of seeking a permanent commission in all streams except the flying branch. The Navy has allowed the permanent commission of women in a host of departments such as logistics, naval designing, air traffic control, engineering and legal.

 

"Due to the prevailing restrictions imposed by the COVID situation, multiple means of dissemination of instructions have been adopted to ensure that these documents reach all affected women officers on priority. The Selection Board will be scheduled immediately after receipt and verification of applications," the statement added.