Indian Army to promote 108 women officers to full colonel rank for battalion command

The Indian Army is running a Special Selection Board to bring women officers at par with their male counterparts. Women officers will be promoted to the ranks of Lieutenant Colonel to full Colonel. The SSB started on January 9 and will continue till January 22. A total of 244 women officers are being considered for promotion, according to a Ministry of Defence press release.

The promotion bid takes women officers from 1992-2006 batch against 108 vacancies into consideration. The women officers being considered for promotion serve in various Arms and Services of the Indian Army, ranging from Engineers Corps, Intelligence Corps, Army Service Corps, Signals, Army Air Defence, Army Ordnance Corps and Electrical & Mechanical Engineers (EME).   

Gender parity among priorities   

The decision to promote women officers signifies the government’s bid to ensure gender parity in Indian Army. In order to ensure the fair conduct of the promotion process by the selection board, 60 women officers have been deployed as observers for the Selection Board. This is further set to clarify any apprehensions regarding the process.  

Meanwhile, at the culmination of the selection process for promotion, the shortlisted women officers will be issued postings on command assignments by the end of January 2023, the Indian Army stated. Additionally, the Indian Army has granted Permanent Commission (PC) to women officers with the aim to provide an equal set of opportunities. With this development, women officers have a platform to shoulder higher ranks and responsibilities at par with their male counterparts.  

Further, the Indian Army is mulling granting Permanent Commission to women officers in junior batches. 

Notable achievements of women officers

As the Indian Army takes steps to achieve greater gender parity, women soldiers are also making waves. For the first time, five women officers cleared the presitigious Defence Services Staff Course (DSSC) and Defence Services Technical Staff Course (DSTSC) in September 2022. The examination is conducted annually for women officers to take a one-year-long course and give them adequate weight in promotional prerequisites. 

Indian Army is also considering women officers for command roles in Artillery Corps, a supporting Arm of the Indian Army. The Army is the first among the tri-services to open soldier ranks to allow the recruitment of women in the Corps of the Military Police.