Women in combat roles? Army plans to 1st induct females in military police

Indian Army will appoint women in military police first: General Rawat

Dehradun, June 10: The issue of inducting women in combat roles in the Indian Army has been a debatable subject for long. However, it looks like soon we are going to see women fighting tough battles in the border terrains.

Thanks, to the recent announcement made by Army Chief General Bipin Rawat where he said that soon the Indian Army is planning to induct women in combat roles.

On Saturday, Rawat said that army would first induct women into the military police before considering other options in the armed force for them.

"Firstly, we will start with women as military police jawans. We will take the next step after success," Rawat told reporters, after attending a Passing out Parade ceremony in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.

"Because many times, when people go to the operation, we have to face the people and many a times ladies come in front of us," he said.

The army chief said that the process to allow women in combat roles is ongoing and they will be recruited for positions in the military police.

Currently, women are only being recruited into selective areas of the army like medical, legal, educational, signals and engineering wings.

If the army starts recruiting women in combat roles, India will be joining a select group of countries like Germany, Australia, Canada, the United States, Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Norway, Sweden and Israel, where women are allowed to fight wars.

Last year, Avani Chaturvedi, Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh became the first women fighter pilots to be formally commissioned by the Indian Air Force.

Those who want to see women in combat roles say that it is high time the Indian Army achieve gender neutrality by inducting females too for tough roles.

OneIndia News