New Delhi, Jan 12 :Army Chief General MM Naravane Today  said the Army is fully ready to admit women cadets, and preparations are underway at the National Defence Academy to admit women from June 2022.

“There has been a concerted effort, in the field of Human Resource Management, including meeting the aspirations of our Women Officers. In order to provide equal opportunities to women, the Indian Army has granted Permanent Commission (PC) to women officers, at par with their male counterparts,” the Army Chief said.

He refered to women being given Permanent Commission in the Army and said, “Preparations are already underway at the National Defence Academy, to induct women cadets from June 2022.”

He also said the first batch of women soldiers of the Corps of Military Police have successfully completed their training and have joined their units.

“These are major developments towards women empowerment in the country,” he said.

The Army Chief also said that having women cadet in the NDA is not “such a big deal”, and the gender specific needs will be taken care of.

“Admitting women cadets to NDA is not such a big deal. We have had women cadets at OTA, Chennai for some time now,” General Naravane said.

He said that the Officers Training Academy (OTA), Chennai has had women cadets for a while now, and the training of men and women cadets is combined.

He also said that joint training conducted at OTA has resulted in “improvement of standards”.

“Men cadets who where shamming are trying to impress everyone else, and lady cadets are also trying to match the standards of men.

In an interim order on August 18, the Supreme Court allowed female candidates to appear for the entrance exam of National Defence Academy (NDA) and Naval Academy, for gaining commission as officers in defence services.

Going by the order of the Supreme Court, the Union Public Service Commission, which conducts the exams, opened applications for ‘unmarried women candidates’.

At present, women are recruited in the services as short service commission officers.

In another landmark ruling in February 2020, the Supreme Court had ordered that women officers in the Army be granted the option of taking a permanent commission at par with their male counterparts.(UNI)