Till now, although women are inducted in the armed forces they are not inducted in branches meant for combat roles, like in Infantry and armoured division of the Indian Army, fighter planes in the Indian Air Force and ships and vessels in the Indian Navy.
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Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the Naval Commanders’ Conference here, the minister also congratulated the navy for reduction of piracy in the High Risk Area (HRA) of the Indian Ocean.
“Navy is considering whether women officers can also fly these (surveillance) aircraft”, the Defence Minister said, adding, “In areas where there are logistical, infrastructural and training issues, we cannot allow women officers”.
Since their induction into the transport and Helicopter streams of the IAF, the women’s performance has been ‘praiseworthy and on a par with their male counterparts, ‘ an MOD statement said last week.
The Indian Navy today filed a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court challenging a recent order of the Delhi High Court asking it to grant permanent commission to 17 women officers who had retired after their Short Service Commission ended in 2006. Women inducted till now were only inducted on the basis of Short Service Commission (SSC) and were not given Permanent Commission (PC) in the Indian Navy. The Navy was also one the first services to allow permanent commission to women in the Law, Ship Design and Education wings in 2008.
To focus on the men behind the warships and aircraft, the conference will review the numerous schemes for naval personnel to improve quality of life and service conditions within the Navy. “So we will be approaching the apex court because that judgment is based on the pre-assumption that there was a gender bias, which is not there”, he said.
“If there is problem with regard to logistics, training, infrastructure, I can not help it”, he said. Due to their limited service span, women officers are not eligible for pension, which requires a minimum 20 years of service.
Although, women have performed well in combat roles while serving in paramilitary forces like the CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) and BSF (Border Security Force).
They had also alleged gender discrimination, saying while women officers were only entitled to short service commission, men were entitled to both short service as well as permanent commissions.
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On incidents of firing on Indian fishermen by the Pakistani maritime forces, he said the authorities concerned are discussing how to avoid firing.
