NewsGate Press Network

As world is watching with dismay and disbelief events unfolding in Afghanistan where hard line Taliban are set to form their government restricting equal rights to women, an announcement just made by the Indian Army to promote more women officers to Colonel rank  appears to have answered the Indian point of view on the Afghan crisis in at least one way.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), a decision has been made to give five women officers a Colonel rank, after completing 26 years of active military service.

This is the first time ever that women officers serving with the Corps of Signals, Corps of Electronic and Mechanical Engineers (EME) and the Corps of Engineers have been approved to the rank of Colonel.

Previously, promotion to the rank of Colonel was only applicable for women officers in the Army Medical Corps (AMC), Judge Advocate General (JAG) and the Army Education Corps (AEC) apart from four other streams in the Army.

Today’s announcement opens up more avenues of promotion for women officers, now in as many as ten (10) branches of the Indian Army.

The MoD release added that  – Combined with the decision to grant permanent commission to women officers from a majority of branches of the Indian Army, this step (today’s decision) defines the Army’s approach towards a gender-neutral Army.

The five women officers selected for Colonel Time Scale rank are:  Lt Col Sangeeta Sardana from the Corps of Signals, Lt Col Sonia Anand and Lt Col Navneet Duggal from the Corps of EME and Lt Col Reenu Khanna and Lt Col Ritcha Sagar from the Corps of Engineers.