108 female Army officers to be promoted to full Colonel rank for command role

In a major initiative to give equal opportunities to women in the army, the Indian Army has decided to promote 108 women officers working in the rank of lieutenant colonel to the rank of colonel. The process of promotion of such a large number of women officers to the rank of Army Colonel is very special. The army will also issue a posting order on command assignment to all women officers who have been promoted to the rank of colonel this month.

According to sources, the Army will also issue notification of the posting of the first batch of women officers promoted to the rank of colonel in different branches by the end of January. To bring women officers in the army at par with their male counterparts, the process of a special selection board has been started from January 9, which will be completed on January 22. It has 108 Colonel rank vacancies in various arms and services Engineer, Signal, Army Air Defence, Intelligence Corps, Army Service Corps, Army Ordnance Corps and Electrical and Engineers and Mechanical from 1992 to 2006 batch, sources said. For this, out of a total of 244 women officers claiming, 108 will be promoted.

To make the promotion process transparent, the Army has called a total of 60 affected women officers as observers for the selection board, to ensure fair conduct and to clear any apprehensions of the contending women officers. When the process selection board will be completed on January 22, the process of posting 108 women officers declared fit on various command assignments will be started this month itself.

With a view to providing equal opportunities to women, the Army has granted Permanent Commission (PC) to women officers at par with their male counterparts. All the women officers who have been granted Permanent Commissions are undertaking challenging military assignments along with a special training course to empower them for higher leadership roles in the Army. PC has also been introduced for women officers in junior batches wherein they are considered for permanent commission in their 10th year of service.

The beginning of women coming forward in the army is also a sample that for the first time five women officers have cleared the prestigious Defense Services Staff Course and Defense Services Technical Staff Course exams. These five women officers will have to undergo a one-year course and will get due weightage while being considered for future command appointments. However, women combat aviators in the army have joined their counterparts in various aviation units. Women officers are already making a mark in forward areas of deployment as part of Engineers, Army Air Defense and Signals. Women will soon be inducted into the Artillery Corps. Recently a woman officer has been posted on a post in Siachen Glacier. There has been a significant increase in the role of Indian women soldiers in various UN peacekeeping missions.