Indo-Tibetan Border Police deploys female vets on China border

At a time when the Army is reluctant to extend permanent commission to women officers and avoids giving them combat roles, the country's premier paramilitary force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police ( ITBP), has already deployed women veterinarians on the China border.

Women ITBP veterinary officers of the rank of assistant commandant, are leading the force's animal transport companies in inhospitable conditions along the Indo-Tibetan border. They are deployed 50 to 100 km ahead of the Army and have gone where no other women officer of any force has gone before.

Following their success, ITBP is even planning to induct 30 per cent women in the general duty cadre.

At present four such officers -one each from Maharashtra, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Assam -are guarding the bor der at Himachal Pradesh, Northeast and Uttrakhand. While officials refuse to divulge more details about the women's background, they are proud to break the glass ceiling.

The women are given the challenging task of maintaining logistical support at border outposts (BOPs) at altitudes ranging from 9,000 feet to 19,000 feet above sea level. They employ ponies, mules and yaks to supply BOPs with arms, ammunition, rations and clothing. Animal transport units are also used for patrolling the border.

The officers are also trained in handling sophisticated weapons, battlecraft, field-craft and rockclimbing.

Krishna Chaudhary, ITBP's director general said the women not only visit inhospitable BOPs but also march with the animal transport convoys, sometimes continuously for many days on foot in extreme temperatures and across treacherous terrain, leading predominantly male troops.

According to senior commanders of ITBP, not once have the veterinary officers requested for a peaceful posting in the plains.

These Women get Better Deal

According to the ITBP directorate, all women officers have permanent commission and retire at the age of 60, which is better than the veterinary corps of the Army, which inducts only male officers only for a period of five years. On completion of Dynamic Assured Career Progression scheme (DACP), ITBP's women officers get the rank of commandant, the equivalent of full colonel in the Army after 13 years of service