SSC Women, Men Officers Brought at Par in Army

New Delhi, Aug 1 (UNI) In a landmark move -- and as promised, the Government today announced bringing at par the terms and conditions of service for women and men officers in the Army.

As per the amended terms and conditions of service for Short Service Commission Officers (SSCOs) -- retrospectively effective from December 16, 2004, women officers -- hitherto treated on a scale lower than their male counterparts -- shall henceforth undergo training similar -- and of equal length -- to men officers.

According to the Army's Spokesperson here, women will now also get commission as SSCOs with their contractual service now being for 10 years -- extendable to 14 years.

Spokesperson Colonel SK Sakhuja today said the training that will be given to both men and women at Officers Training Academy, Chennai will be for 49 weeks as against 24 weeks given to women earlier.

He said both men and women Short Service Commissioned Officers will be eligible for substantive promotion to Captain in 2 years, Major in 6 years and Lieutenant Colonel in 13 years -- subject to other conditions and adjustments for lesser training period as against a regular officer.

They will thus be eligible for pay of these ranks also.

However, those officers (Men and Women) who have retired between December 16, 2004 and July 20, 2006 will not be eligible for the new orders.

Serving SSCOs and Women Special Entry Scheme Officers have the option to go in for the new scheme within 6 months to get these benefits.

They also have an option leave the service after 5 years and between 10 to 14 years -- of course, subject to approval.

The women and men officers will get common inter-service seniority within their technical and non-technical stream at the end of training at OTA, Chennai, the Spokesperson added.

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