What is permanent commission in the army? What does the new order mean?
A Permanent Commission means a career in the army until one retires. If one gets selected through Permanent Commission, one has the option to serve the country up to the full age of retirement. As per the order of the apex Supreme Court (SC), the union government has been asked to ensure that women officers, irrespective of their years of service, are granted Permanent Commission in the army.
The court added that the woman officers will be now eligible for command posting. The SC bench observed that there could not be absolute exclusion of women officers for command assignments, and that they should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
The court struck down a part of the government’s 2019 circular that had proposed Permanent Commission to women officers if they had not completed 14 years in service.
What positions did women hold so far? What were they entitled to?
At present, woman officers can serve for 10-14 years in the Short Service Commission (SSC). Women officers are allowed entry into branches such as Army Service Corps, Ordnance, Education Corps, Engineers, Signals, Intelligence, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering.
Last year, women officers were granted Permanent Commission (PC) in all 10 non-combat branches of the army. There was, however, no option to allow women in combat roles like infantry, armoured, mechanised infantry, aviation and artillery.
On Monday, the top court commented that there was a “fundamental fallacy” in the centre’s policy of considering only women with less than 14 years for Permanent Commission.
The SC clarified that all terms of appointments of women officers shall be same as their male counterparts.
How do other armies treat women?
UK — Prime Minister (PM) David Cameron lifted a ban on women serving in close combat roles in 2016. The next year, Royal Air Force’s ground-fighting force opened to women for the first time, making it the first branch of the forces to open all roles to female service personnel. In 2018, women became eligible to apply for every role in the British forces.
France — Women can serve in every position in the military, including submarines and combat infantry. Women make up around 15 per cent of all service personnel in the combined branches of the French military. Currently, however, women are not allowed to serve in military’s French Foreign Legion (FFL) branch.
Australia — All combat and non-combat roles are open to women. In 2016, women were allowed to serve in the front-line combat roles.
US — Defence Secretary Ash Carter had in 2015 opened all combat jobs to women, and authorised the military to begin integrating female combat soldiers “right away.”
Russia — Women can serve in most areas of the military except riot control. They have been allowed in submarines, including nuclear submarines, since 2014. Women are also allowed to lead the combat infantry.
