This will be the first time women will be allowed to join the Indian Army as non-officers.
Women will now be inducted into the Indian Army's Corps of Military Police (CMP). The decision by Defence Ministry Nirmala Sitharaman also envisions their absorption in a way that would ensure women red berets make up 20 percent of the military police strength eventually.
This would be the first time that women would be part of the armed forces in ranks other than officers. So far, women have only been inducted as officers or medical officers as part of the medical corps. Women have been inducted as officers on Short Service Commission (SSC) since 1992, till Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in his 2018 Independence Day speech that they would now start receiving permanent commissions.
The intake of women into the CMP will take place at the level of Personnel Below Officer Rank (PBOR), the BJP announced through a tweet on Friday evening. The women jawans would be tasked with the investigation of offences as rape, sexual assault, and theft; assisting Army units in operations when needed; evacuation of forward villages in forward areas during hostilities; refugee crowd management, especially with women and children; prisoner of war (PoW) camp management; searching and frisking of women during cordon and search operations (CASO) and ceremonial duties.
The women would also take part in the CMP's regular duties that include the maintenance of security, discipline and law on military bases of all three armed services.
"In a historic decision, Modi govt has decided to induct women, for the first time in Personnel Below Officer Rank, in corps of Military Police. It's a huge step towards further empowering women and improving their representation in our armed forces," the BJP declared in its tweet.
The move may be seen as one step closer to seeing women in combat roles, which Army chief Bipin Rawat has said India is "not yet ready" for. The Indian Navy too does not have women in combat roles or on ships. The Indian Air Force on the other hand has inducted at least five women fighter jet pilots, all of whom are presently at various levels of training. All three armed services however have women pilots, who till last year were restricted to transport and support aircraft and helicopters.
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