Women officers can now get permanent commission in Indian Army

The Defence Ministry’s Sanction Letter follows a Supreme Court verdict that directed the government that women Army officers be granted permanent commission and command postings in all services other than combat.

Captain Tania Shergill, the first woman Army officer led the men contingent as they march past at the Republic day parade at Rajpath in New Delhi in January 2020.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has issued the formal Government Sanction Letter for grant of Permanent Commission (PC) to women officers in the Army.

“In anticipation, the Army Headquarters had set in motion a series of preparatory actions for conduct of the Permanent Commission Selection Board for affected women officers. The Selection Board will be scheduled as soon as all affected Short Service Commissioned (SSC) women officers exercise their option and complete requisite documentation,” the Army said in a statement on Thursday.

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The order specifies the grant of PC to SSC women officers in all the 10 streams of the Army in which they presently serve — the Army Air Defence (AAD), Signals, Engineers, Army Aviation, Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME), Army Service Corps (ASC), Army Ordnance Corps (AOC), and Intelligence Corps in addition to the existing streams of Judge and Advocate General (JAG) and the Army Educational Corps (AEC), the Army said.

The order follows a Supreme Court verdict in February that directed the government that women Army officers be granted PC and command postings in all services other than combat. Following this, Army Chief Gen. Manoj Naravane had said it was an enabling one and gives a lot of clarity on how to move forward. He had stated that the same procedure for male SSC officers will be followed for women to give PC.

About 322 women officers had approached the apex court on the issue of PC and the issue of command postings came up in the discussion on subsequent avenues after the grant of PC. In its appeal, the government cited “physical” and “physiological limitations” in granting command positions to women offers, to which the Supreme Court said there was need for administrative will and “change of mindset.”