For first time, Indian Army to take in women soldiers

For the first time, the Indian Army is going to start taking in women soldiers. 

So far, the Army has taken in women only as officers. 

The women soldiers however will perform non-combat duties. 

They will be inducted into the Military Police. 

The plan -- seen as a major step towards breaking gender barriers in the force -- is to induct approximately 800 women in the military police with a yearly intake of 52 personnel per year, PTI reported Adjutant General of the Army Lt Gen Ashwani Kumar as telling reporters.

India got its first full-time woman defence minister -- Nirmala Sitharaman -- only last Sunday. 

Indira Gandhi had also acted as defence minister in the 1970's and 80's, but that was while she was prime minister.