Hyderabad: The Supreme Court on Feb 17, in a landmark verdict allowed women officers in the Indian Army to be granted permanent commission same as their male counterparts. After seeking time from the SC to comply with the order, the Centre has now sanctioned permission for the same.
Here's a timeline of events:
1990: Women officers started being inducted as SSC officers in armed forces, with a maximum tenure of 14 years.
2011: Govt grants women SSC officers Permanent commission in judicial and education branches of 3 services
15.08.2018: PM Narendra Modi announces women officers will be eligible for PC in a wider range of non-combat services
25.02.2019: Govt issues an order for grant of permanent commission to new SSC women officers in 8 combat support arms/services (signals .engineers, army aviation, air defence, electronics and mechanical engineers, army service corps, army ordnance corps and intelligence.
31.10.2019: The army’s Adjutant General Lieutenant General Ashwani Kumar explained that after women officers opt for a specialized stream under permanent commission, they will undergo training for the stream. “Permanent commission will be open for women from April 2020.
19.11.2019: Supreme Court on permanent commission for women: The Supreme Court told the army to decide on permanent commission to eight women army officers who had approached the top court in 2010 against the bar on their absorption in the armed forces.
17.02.2020: Supreme Court ruled that women could serve as army commanders, dismissing the government's stance that male soldiers were not ready to accept orders from female officers as "disturbing". The Supreme Court also ordered the government to extend permanent service - which has only applied to men so far - to all women officers, signalling a move towards gender parity in the traditionally male bastion. With this women will get the same opportunities and benefits as their male colleagues, including ranks, promotions and pensions, and be allowed to serve longer tenures.
Also read: Govt issues order for permanent commission of women officers in Army
07.07.2020: The Supreme Court allowed a one-month extension to the government to implement its February 17 judgment to grant permanent commission/command posts to eligible women officers in the armed forces.
23.07.2020: The Union government issued a formal sanction letter for grant of Permanent Commission to women officers in Indian Army, paving the way for empowering women officers to shoulder larger roles in the organisation.
A World Wide Glance Of Women In Combat Roles
UK: In 2018 the Government announced Women will be allowed to apply for all military roles in the British armed forces, including in frontline infantry units and the Royal Marines.
USA: The doors began opening for women seeking a career in military service. Beginning in 1976, women were admitted to all service academies. Basic training became integrated in 1977. A separate branch for women was no longer necessary, so Congress disbanded the Women's Army Corps in 1978. The Department of Defense opened all combat jobs to women in 2015.
Canada: Canada's military is about 85% men, but women have been allowed in combat since 1989. Women comprise close to 15% of the Canadian fighting force -- its regular force and primary reserves. The number of women in combat roles remains small and, according to the UK study, Canadian research suggests women are more likely to serve in supportive rather than operational roles.
Romania: Romania's volunteer force employs women in combat positions. The country has sent close to 60 women to Iraq in close combat roles. In Afghanistan, women represent nearly 7% of those serving in combat jobs. The country reports that it had no problems with operational performance related to integrating genders across the armed forces.
France: In France, although women can serve in combat and overall women represent about 19% of all French military personnel, very few women serve on the front lines. UK researchers, noting French research from 2006, said 1.7% of women are combat infantry soldiers.
Germany: In Germany, women began joining combat units in 2001 after the European Court of Justice ruled that preventing women from such jobs was against gender equality principles. Women can choose any military career they want, including elite groups such as marine commandos. The number of women in the German armed forces tripled between 2001 and 2014, with about 800 women in combat units, including many who have served in the Afghanistan war.
Denmark: Women have been allowed in all ranks in the Danish military since 1998. Women perform as well as men in land combat roles, according to some Danish research, and both genders are required to meet the same physical standards in jobs that are more physically demanding. Danish women have served in combat in Afghanistan.
Israel: Women have been allowed in close combat roles since the 1990s, and women are eligible for 90% of all defence roles.
The Netherlands: Women are not allowed in the Marine Corps or Submarine Service, but can apply for other combat-ready positions. But the number of women who go for combat roles is not large. Men tend to serve those roles twice as often as women. The UK study that examined women in foreign fighting forces reported that the Netherlands armed forces benefit from teams comprised of men and women when it comes to crisis-response operations and peacekeeping missions.
New Zealand: Women have been allowed since 2001 in every job in the armed forces, including the infantry. But that openness hasn't translated into a high number of women in combat roles. As of May 2004, there were nine female gunners, three women rifle operators and one female field engineer, the UK study said.
Poland: Women are allowed in all services, and since 2004, the nation has required women with college nursing or veterinary degrees to register for compulsory military service. But that is a lot of change in a relatively short amount of time. It wasn't until 1999 that women were accepted into military schools and not until 2003 did female graduates complete four-year training at those schools and assume posts.
Sweden: Since 1989 there have been no gender restrictions in the Swedish military, according to the UK study. Swedes say having women in combat roles, particularly those who've served in Afghanistan, has been positive for operations. Swedish military women work well with local Afghan women, the study noted, and have been able to lead units to discover makeshift bombs before they exploded and locate suicide bombers before they could strike.
Australia: The country opened combat positions to women in September 2011, allowing them to join special operations units in Afghanistan and the general infantry and armoured units. Women are also allowed to become naval divers. Australia's former Prime Minister Julia Gillard, the first woman in that position, backed the move. "I have a view that men and women are equal," she told the Australian, a local news outlet, in April 2011. "A few years ago I heard [defence chief General] Peter Cosgrove say that men and women should have an equal right to fight and die for their country. I think he is right about that."As of June 2014, 63 Australian women had signed up for front-line roles, the Guardian reported.
Norway: In 1985, Norway became the first country in NATO to allow women to serve in all combat capacities, including submarines. Norwegian women are also subject to the draft in the event of national mobilization.
