17 MAR 2023

The total number of women serving in Indian Army, category-wise is as under:

At present, women are serving in Officer’s cadre only in the Indian Air Force (IAF).  The strength of women officers, as on March 01, 2023, in the IAF (excluding Medical and Dental branches) is 1,636.

As on date, women are employed in the Indian Navy in the officer’s rank. The strength of women officers in the Indian Navy, as on March 09, 2023, is 748 including Medical and Dental officers.

Employment in Indian Armed Forces is gender neutral. There is no distinction in the deployment and working conditions of male and female soldiers in the arms and services in which they serve. The postings are as per organizational requirements and employment is as per qualifications and service qualitative requirements. 

Indian Army: Consequent to grant of Permanent Commission to Women Officers (WOs), a gender neutral Career Progression policy covering employment and promotional aspects was promulgated on 23.11.2021, providing equal opportunities to women officers in the Arms/Services where they are commissioned.

Indian Air Force: Women officers are empowered to tenate key appointments including Commanding Officers in Combat Units of various field units. The rules in this regard are gender neutral and provide them equal opportunities. Their medical fitness and medical conditions are also factored prior to their effective utilization.

Indian Navy: Officers are given opportunities for spouse co-location, re-settlement posting and compassionate grounds posting in a gender neutral manner.

Women are granted Maternity Leave and Child Care Leave etc. in addition to other leave applicable to their male counterparts.

Indian Army

Officers: Indian Army is encouraging women to join the force by adopting enabling policies for their inclusion. Recent major initiatives underway are as under:

• Grant of Permanent Commission (PC) to Women Serving Personnel. PC is being granted to Women Officers (WOs) in 11 Arms & Services (in addition to Army Medical Corps, Army Dental Corps and Military Nursing Service) viz. Army Service Corps (ASC), Army Ordnance Corps (AOC), Army Education Corps (AEC), Judge Advocate General Branch (JAG Br), Corps of Engineers (ENGRS), Corps of Signals (SIGS), Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME), Intelligence Corps (Int Corps), Army Air Defence (AAD), Army Aviation, Remount and Veterinary Corps (RVC).
• Women in National Defence Academy (NDA). Armed Forces have opened entry for women candidates in NDA with 19 cadets including 10 for Indian Army joining the academy every six months. First batch of women cadets has started training in NDA with effect from July 2022 and second batch has commenced training with effect from January 2023. The organization is ensuring inclusive measures to carry out all necessary administrative, training and policy changes to enable the same.
• Women in Army Aviation.  Indian Army has also opened avenues for Women Officers to serve as pilots in the Corps of Army Aviation since year 2021.
• Women Officers in Remount and Veterinary Corps (RVC).   Government has approved Women Officers in RVC on March 01, 2023 and four out of 20 officers into RVC in 2023 are women.
• Colonel (Select Grade).  Women Officers are also being considered for Colonel (Select Grade) ranks and are being given command appointments. Certain waivers have also been given to WOs to rule out any impediment in career progression of those who could not undergo mandatory career courses during the transition period.

Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs)/Other Ranks (OR). Provision for enrolment of women as Other Ranks in Corps of Military Police in the Indian Army has been introduced in 2019. Under the scheme, 1700 women are targeted to be inducted in a phased manner (approximately 100 per year). The induction of women has commenced from 2020. The first batch of 100 women in Other Ranks passed out in first week of May 2021, after completion of 61 weeks of training. Another 100 women soldiers have been inducted through the Agnipath Scheme. 100 vacancies each have been catered for in Agnipath Scheme for the Recruiting Years 2022-23 and 2023-24.

Indian Air Force

• Women officers are inducted in all branches and streams of Indian Air Force. Gender neutral approach is facilitating the employment of women officers of Indian Air Force in all combat roles without any restrictions. They are flying fighter aircraft and operating from the length and breadth of the country in all branches of the IAF with pride.
• Opportunities for a career in IAF are widely publicized through print/electronic media and special publicity drives. An opening has also been provided through NCC Special Entry for flying SSC (Women) from July 2017 onwards. 
• ‘DISHA’ cell at Air HQ conducts various Induction Publicity programmes across the country related to induction/ career of Officer Cadre in the IAF. Women candidates are encouraged during such publicity drives to join the IAF as a preferred career option. 
• Conduct of motivational talks by women officers give opportunity to female students to interact with them and clear their apprehensions. The scope of choosing IAF as a career is covered in terms of prospects, facilities, work profile, benefits etc. during these sessions.

Indian Navy

Indian Navy (IN) ensures gender neutrality in almost all aspects. The steps taken by IN to give equal opportunities to women akin to their male counterparts and to accommodate more women into the Indian Navy are as follows:

• Permanent Commission to Women Officers: SSC women officers in the Indian Navy are eligible for consideration towards grant of Permanent Commission. As on date, 59 women officers (excluding Medical and Dental officers) have been granted PC.
• Women Officers Onboard Ships: Women officers are being appointed onboard warships. Currently, 33 women officers are deployed on afloat billets.
• Naval Air Operations (NAO) Officers on Helicopters: Women NAO officers have been appointed as specialist NAO officers to ship borne helicopters.
• RPA Stream: Women officers can join the Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) stream and the first woman officer joined RPA squadron in March 2021.
• Diplomatic Assignment: A woman officer has been appointed ADA, Moscow since January 2020.
• Overseas Assignments: Women NAO officers have been deputed overseas to Maldives, as part of Dornier aircrew for a period of one year w.e.f. September 2020 onwards. In addition, women officers are also deputed abroad for shorter durations as part of Mobile Training Teams and other foreign cooperation engagements.
• Entry of Women into NDA: Entry of women candidates into NDA has been permitted from 2022 wherein women officers are being inducted as PC officers. Three vacancies per batch have been allocated at NDA for women candidates of Navy and the first batch has joined in July 2022.
• Women in all Branches/Cadres/Specialisations: Entry of women in all Branches/ Cadres/ Specialisations (except Submarine specialization) is targeted to commence w.e.f. June 2023.
• Women as Agniveers: As part of the Agnipath Scheme, women have been enrolled as Agniveers commencing from the first batch itself. They are subjected to the same training curriculum, professional courses and retention criteria as compared to their male counterparts.

This information was given by Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Ajay Bhatt in a written reply to Shrimati Queen Oja and Shri TR Baalu in Lok Sabha today.

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Ministry of Defence

Government appoints Lt General Anil Chauhan (Retired) as Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)

Posted On: 28 SEP 2022

The Government has decided to appoint Lt General Anil Chauhan (Retired) PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM as the next Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) who shall also function as Secretary to Government of India, Department of Military Affairs with effect from the date of his assumption of charge and until further orders. In a career spanning over nearly 40 years, Lt Gen Anil Chauhan had held several command, staff and instrumental appointments and had extensive experience in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu & Kashmir and North-East India.

Born on 18th May 1961, Lt Gen Anil Chauhan was commissioned into the 11 Gorkha Rifles of the Indian Army in 1981. He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla and Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. In the rank of Maj General, the officer had commanded an Infantry Division in the critical Baramula sector in the Northern Command. Later as Lt General, he commanded a corps in the North East and subsequently went to become the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Command from September 2019 and held the charge until his retirement from the service in May 2021.

In addition to these command appointments, the officer also tenanted important staff appointments including the charge of Director General of Military Operations. Earlier, the officer had also served as a United Nations mission to Angola. The officer superannuated from the Indian Army on 31 May 2021. Even after his retirement from the Army, he continued to contribute to national security and strategic matters. For his distinguished and illustrious service in the Army, Lt General Anil Chauhan (Retired) was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Uttam Yudh Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Sena Medal and Vishisht Seva Medal.

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Extension for grant of Highly Active Field Area Allowance From 01st January 2021 to 31st Dec 2021

As per Govt of India, Min of Def., Dept of Military Affairs letter No. 8(3) / 2000 /D (Pay/Services)dated 13th Oct 2020, approval of the Competent Authority has been conveyed for the payment of Highly Active Field Area Allowance from 01st January 2021 to 31st Dec 2021, for the areas as specified in Appx to MoD letter No. 8(3) / 2000 /D(Pay/Services) dated 24th May 2001, at the rates specified in MoD’s letter No. 1(16)/2017/D (Pay/Services) dated 18th Sept 2017.

Units/ Formations are advised to publish fresh Part II Orders with casualty date on or after 01.01.2021 as per the status of location, quoting Corps Notification number and date, Serial number, and requisite certificates therein, in respect of the affected officers.

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Vacancy in the Army

Ministry of Defence
Vacancy in the Army

24 JUNE

The total posts vacant in the Army as on 01.01.2019 are 45,634, including 7,399 posts which are above the rank of Second Lieutenant. Recruitment in the Army is a continuous process and vacancies occur due to various reasons like accretions of posts from time to time, tough selection procedures, difficult service conditions coupled with perceived high degree of risk involved in the service career as also inherent limitation of number that could be trained without compromising the quality of training. Vacancies are filled progressively through recruits who complete training.

Publicity expenditure for recruitment in Army including recruitment notifications during the last three years is as follows:

This information was given by Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh in a written reply to Shri Rakesh Sinhain Rajya Sabha today.

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Women in Armed Forces

 12 MAR 2018

The held strength of women officers vis a viz male officers in the Armed Forces is as given below:

In consonance with the policy in vogue, women officers are not inducted in Arms of Indian Army which are involved in direct combat role. The first batch of three women fighter pilots has been commissioned into the IAF in 2016.

Women officers in the Indian Navy are employed in combat, combat support and support roles. In their capacity as Pilots and Observers onboard Maritime Reconnaissance aircraft, women are being employed in a combat role.

In Navy, the policy for setting up of Permanent Commission for women officers in Law & Education and Naval Constructors branch has been finalized. In case of Indian Air Force, Government had issued prospective policies for grant of permanent commission to women officers in certain branches, whereas in Indian Army, the policy for grant of permanent commission to women officers is yet to be finalized.

This information was given by Raksha Rajya Mantri Dr. Subhash Bhamre in a written reply to Dr. Vikas Mahatme in Rajya Sabha today.

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Women Personnel in Army

07 MAR 2018

Held strength of women officers (excluding Medical, Dental and Nursing) in the Indian Army for the last three years are as under:

The borne strength of women officers (excluding Medical and Dental) in the Indian Navy as on 1st January from 2015 onwards is as follows

The strength of women officers (except Medical and Dental branch) in Indian Air Force in the last three years is as follows:

Details of women officers (excluding Medical, Dental and Nursing) in different Arms and Service of Indian Army as on 1st January, 2018 are as under:

Current held strength of women officers in Armed Forces Medical Services as on 1st January, 2018 is as under:

There are no non-commissioned women officers in the Army. As on 27 February 2018, the total strength of women officers in the Indian Navy (including Medical and Dental) is 639.

The branch wise breakdown is as follows:

Branch wise details of women officers (except Medical and Dental branch) in the Indian Air Force (IAF) as on 1st February, 2018 is as follows:

There are no non-commissioned women officers in the IAF.

The complaints of discrimination received from women officers at work place in the armed forces are investigated and necessary action taken against defaulting officers, in accordance with the prevailing Acts and rules in force.

This information was given by Raksha Rajya Mantri Dr. Subhash Bhamre in a written reply to Smt Kamla Devi Paatle in Lok Sabha today.

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Recruitment of Soldiers

07 MAR 2018

The details of youths who were recruited as soldiers in the Indian Army at various levels such as Commissioned Officers, Junior Commissioned Officers / Other Ranks (JCOs / ORs) are given below:

Officers *:

JCOs / ORs *:

*Recruitment for Commissioned Officers is done calendar year wise, whereas the recruitment for JCO / ORs is done financial year wise.

This information was given by Raksha Rajya Mantri Dr. Subhash Bhamre in a written reply to Shri Vinod Lakhamashi Chavda in Lok Sabha today.

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05 MAR 2018

There are four modes of entry for becoming a pilot in the Indian Air Force (IAF) [NDA, CDSE, AFCAT and NCC special entry]. A written test is conducted for NDA/CDSE (by UPSC) and AFCAT (by IAF) entries followed by SSB testing. NCC special entry candidates with valid ‘C’ certificate (Air Wing) are directly called for SSB testing. The recommended candidates undergo medical tests. The final merit list is prepared based on the candidate’s performance and medical fitness. On successful completion of flying training at Flying Training Establishments (FTEs) of the IAF, the cadet is commissioned as a pilot in the IAF.

Pilots are inducted in the Indian Navy as Permanent Commission (PC) or Short Service Commission(SSC).

• Permanent Commission (PC) : Volunteers from serving Executive branch officers (upto 25 years of age) are selected for pilot training biannually.
• Short Service Commission (SSC) : Short Service Commissioned officers are inducted biannually through Direct Entry Scheme.

All pilots in Army Aviation are commissioned officers. Options to join Army Aviation are as under:-

• Volunteers who opt for Army Aviation during pre-commissioning training at IMA and OTA.
• Volunteer Officers from any Arm of Indian Army on completion of one and half years of service.

Volunteer Officers are required to undergo the following tests:-

• Pilot Aptitude and Battery Test (PABT)
• Aviation medical examination

Officers clearing the PABT and medical examination undergo the Basic and Advance flying training, on completion of which they become pilots in the Indian Army.

As on 1st February, 2018, sanctioned strength and strength of pilots in Indian Air Force (IAF) is as follows:

There is a marginal shortage in strength of pilots in IAF against the authorized establishment.

Indian Navy:

Indian Army:

The total number of pilots in Army Aviation as on date are:

A study on Restructuring of Army Pilot Cadre was conducted and salient decisions that have been implemented are:

• There has been an increase in Direct Commissioned Officers (DCO) both from IMA and OTA.
• For the DCO, the lower service limit of two years of attachment period with fallback arm after commissioning has also been reduced to one and half years.

IAF ensures that the aircrew are fully utilized in a cockpit vacancy for the maximum duration which is well beyond the period required for amortization of the cost of training. It is also ensured that only limited numbers are given release such that the combat potential of IAF is not compromised at any stage

• Setting up of an Air Force Selection Board (AFSB) at Gandhinagar in 2013.
• The selection process into the IAF has been simplified with the introduction of the Air Force Common Admission Test (AFCAT) for non-UPSC entries. Under this format, a candidate may apply for selection in any branch for which they meet the QRs, through a single application in a selection cycle.
• Proactive steps have been taken by the IAF to reduce the shortage of pilots, which include participation in career fairs/exhibitions, advertisements in print and electronic media, motivational lectures in schools, colleges, visuals/signage at strategic locations etc.

This information was given by Raksha Rajya Mantri Dr. Subhash Bhamre in a written reply to Shri Harshvardhan Singh Dungarpurin Rajya Sabha today.

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Ministry of Defence
Women Joining Army

Posted On: 07 FEB 2018

The induction of women in Indian Army is based on the organizational requirements, fighting efficiency, combat effectiveness and functionality. Presently, women are recruited in Indian Army in the Military Nursing Service and as Officers through Short Service Commission (SSC) on all India merit basis in specific branches like Army Service Corps, Army Ordinance Corps, Army Education Corps, Judge Advocate General, Signals, Intelligence and Electrical and Mechanical Engineering branches.

Government has taken a number of measures to encourage both men and women from all parts of the country including Maharashtra to join the defence forces, viz. (i) sustained image projection; (ii) publicity campaign to create awareness among the youth on the advantages of taking up a challenging and satisfying career; (iii) participation in career fairs and exhibitions; (iv) motivational lectures in schools and colleges etc.

This information was given by RakshaRajyaMantriDr.SubhashBhamrein a written reply to Shri Ashok MahadeoraoNetein LokSabha today.

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Recruitment in Army is undertaken on basis of vacancies arising on account of retirement, release or due to accretions in force level from time to time.

State / UT wise details of youth recruited into the Indian Army as Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) and Other Ranks (OR) in the last five years is as under:-

RECRUITMENT OF JCOs/ORs IN INDIAN ARMY IN VARIOUS

STATES/UTs DURING THE LAST FIVE YEARS

 For the recruiting year 2016-17, a total of 53786 vacancies have been allotted.

The Armed Forces have undertaken sustained image projection and publicity campaign to create awareness among the youth on the advantages of taking up a challenging and satisfying career.  Awareness campaigns, participation in career fairs and exhibitions, advertisements in print and electronic media, motivational lectures in schools, colleges are also some of the other measures taken in this direction.

This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Dr. Subhash Bhamre in a written reply to Shrimati Savitri Thakur and Shri Deepender Singh Hooda  in Lok Sabha today.

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