Wholeheartedly welcome SC’s decision to give women permanent commission in Armed Forces: Rajnath
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Singh took to Twitter and welcomed the decision 'wholeheartedly'.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court’s judgement on Permanent Commission for women in Army.
Singh took to Twitter and welcomed the decision " wholeheartedly".
"I wholeheartedly welcome Hon'ble Supreme Court’s judgement on giving the Women officers permanent commission in the Armed Forces. PM Shri @narendramodi has supported the idea of permanent commission for women & announced the change in policy in his Independence Day speech in 2018," Singh tweeted out.
I wholeheartedly welcome Honble Supreme Court’s judgement on giving the Women officers permanent commission in the Armed Forces. PM Shri @narendramodi has supported the idea of permanent commission for women & announced the change in policy in his Independence Day speech in 2018.
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) February 17, 2020
The defence minister stated that a historic move to allow women in the field operations came when former defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman "announced that women will be inducted into the Military Police. The recruitment process has started in 2019," Singh added.
"In 2019, the defence ministry granted a permanent commission to women in all 10 branches of the Indian Amry, including Signal Corps, intelligence, aviation, engineering, service corps and ordinance corps," he said.
Also read: Bar on granting command post to women officers in Army is irrational: Supreme Court to government
Sigh also highlighted that before the year 2016, women made up just 2.5 per cent of India's armed forces and worked mainly in non-combat roles.
"As of Jan 2019, 3.89 per cent of the army personnel comprised women, while 6.7 per cent of the navy and 13.28 per cent of the air force personnel were women as of June 2019," Singh posted on Twitter.
The top court today said that women officers in Army be given a permanent commission as a change of mindset is required on government's part to end gender bias in armed forces.
Before 2016, women made up just 2.5 percent of India's armed forces, working in mainly non-combat roles.
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) February 17, 2020
As of Jan 2019, 3.89 percent of the army personnel comprised women, while 6.7 percent of the navy & 13.28 percent of the air force personnel were women as of June 2019.
"Absolute bar on granting command post to women officers in Army is irrational and against Right to Equality," India's top court said.
The apex court directed the Centre to grant permanent commission within three months to all women officers in the Army who opt for it.
The court said that women officers will also be eligible for command posting in the Army.
The top court said even after 70 years of post-colonial era, there is a need for change in mindset with regard to giving equal opportunity to women officers in the Indian Army.