In a first, women of armed forces to march on Republic Day

NEW DELHI: The armed forces for the first time will have all-women marching contingents, apart from their regular ones, in the Republic Day parade on the majestic Rajpath this year, which will have US President Barack Obama as the chief guest.

It has been quite a scramble for the Army, Navy and IAF to look for 148 women each - one contingent commander, three platoon commanders and 144 in the marching block - since they still constitute a miniscule minority in the predominantly male environs of the over 13-lakh strong armed forces.

"The orders came from the top since PM Narendra Modi was keen on women empowerment and 'Naari Shakti' as the main theme for the parade. Women officers, with proper turnout, drill standards and fit enough for the 10-km march, have been pulled out from different stations across the country," said a source.

Unlike paramilitary and police forces, the armed forces cannot draw women from other ranks for the parade since they induct them only as officers. Moreover, though women have been allowed to join the armed forces since the early-1990s, they currently number just about 3,000 of the 59,400 officers. The Army has around 1,300 women officers, IAF 1,350 and Navy 350.

Women officers till recently could serve just a maximum of 14 years in branches like signals, engineers, aviation, intelligence, ordnance, air traffic controller and air defence due to what were called "operational, practical and cultural problems". They can now opt for permanent commission but only in a few wings like legal, naval constructor, accounts and education.

As earlier reported by TOI, the country's top civilian leadership and military brass have also been consistently opposed to deploying women in combat roles. So, women officers cannot be fighter pilots, serve on sea-faring warships or join the infantry, armoured corps or artillery. This when many countries around the globe have allowed it. Countries ranging from US and Russia to Turkey and Pakistan, for instance, have had women fighter pilots for long. Similarly, even countries like Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh deploy women on warships, with the US also allowing them on submarines.