Five months after the Supreme Court allowed permanent commission for Short Service Commission (SSC) women officers, the Ministry of Defence has issued a formal order allowing women to be permanent commissioned officers in eight additional streams in the Army.
Women SSC officers are presently allowed a permanent commission in the Judge and Advocate General (JAG) and Army Education Corps (AEC) branches.
The order specifies grant of permanent commission to SSC women officers in eight additional streams of the Indian Army: Army Air Defence (AAD), Signals, Engineers, Army Aviation, Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME), Army Service Corps (ASC), Army Ordnance Corps (AOC) and Intelligence Corps.
Called the government sanction letter, it was issued on Thursday for grant of permanent commission to women officers in the Army, paving the way for empowering women officers to shoulder larger roles in the organisation.
The Army Headquarters had set in motion a series of preparatory actions for conduct of the Permanent Commission Selection Board for Women Officers.
The board will be scheduled as soon as all SSC women officers exercise their option and complete requisite documentation.
The decision will apply to those who had joined as SSC officers, but were not given an option during their service tenure to opt for permanent commission.
Their male counterparts from same batches and streams went on to become permanent commission officers. SSC officers – men or women – join for a period of 10 or 14 years following which an option is given if they want to be permanent commission officers.
