Defence Minister Parrikar open to an all-women battalion in Army

TIL Desk/National/New Delhi-Two of the key feeder organisations providing officers to Indian military could be finally open to women. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday said that steps are being taken to accommodate women in the National Defence Academy (NDA) in Pune, and Sainik schools spread across India. Mr. Parrikar also proposed all-women battalions in the military.

Mr. Parrikar was speaking at a session ‘Parivartan in defence sector, changing role & opportunities for women’ organised by the FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO). The NDA is the key feeder organisation from which over 600 cadets pass out every year in two batches and officers from the tri-services organisation dominate the military leadership. The 25 Sainik schools send a few hundred cadets into the NDA every year.

An idea of having all-women battalions is also mooted and steps are being taken to accommodate women in NDA and Sainik schools,” Mr. Parrikar said. Currently there are all-women battalions in paramilitary and Central police forces but due to the nature of the job and operating conditions, women in the military are only recruited as officers in select streams.