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Indian Army Keeps Door Open for Women Recruits

Priya Darshini writra from New Delhi
THE doors of the Indian Armed Forces are being opened more widely to women, but not without much caution.
Indian newspapers are running big ads calling for female cadets to Join the legal, administrative and education branches of the armed forces. Women already work 1n the army as nurses and doctors.
But these are the soft Jobs. Women are still not allowed on warships, war-planes or tn the fighting units of the Army.
Moreover, postings will be tn commands and area headquarters found in well-populated cities with amenities, such as Bombay. Cochin and Visakhapotnam.
Nevertheless, there i* room enough for women. Major-General VK Madhok. who recently retired from the Armed Forces, says There is tremendous scope for their enrollment in the signals corps.
Also, they can do well in the Intelligence branch, transport service* and ordinance and translation section*.
Mr* Jean Rodriguez, wife of the Army Chief and head of the Army Wives’ Welfare Association, strongly believes that women can prove their ■kill* In the legal branch of the Army. "Army wive* will be freer in discussing their legal problem*. A woman will certainly understand better another woman'* problem*, par ticulariy cases with psychological nuances.' she says.
The Army already has a woman major-general and other female high-ranking offi cers tn Us medical and nursing services. Including some 500 doctor* and 5,000 nurses
Dr Sonia Shukla is one of them. 'Once you are in the medical profession, it does not matter whether you are male or female. Similarly. It doe* not matter whether you art a
civilian or tn the military. I am motivated by a sense of patriotism and I do enjoy being In the Army '
However, the number of women Joining the Armed Force* Medical College ha* dwindled. From an average of 25 enrollee* annually, only seven women were among the 130 cadets admitted In 1991.
According to a senior medical officer, rpany male doctors have not taken kindly to the women being given softer posting*. Another *ources of irritation Is that women doctors married to military officers can get concessions like being transferred to where their husbands are posted
The same problem* could confront other Army unit* now being opened to women, but Army headquartera staff do not think *o
The branches that are being opened to women have been carefully selected." says an administrative officer For instance, all the Jobs In the education or legal branch are In cities or command or area headquarter*.
'Male officers in these branches would not be able to claim field service and the race for promotions would be between equal*. In fact, these are softer Jobs than In the medical branch.'
The military brass still does
not think very highly of women being placed In combat role*. Says a senior office: "We have to accept that women and men are biologically different. The fact that the timing* of male athletes are better than that of women athletes shows the difference
We may speak of the push button war and video war games But the fact is that much of the hard battles are fought by hardy soldiers with rifles and bayonets. Only very exceptional women can do It,' he adds.
An army general also note* how physical standards applied to women cadet* are lower than those applied to men. For example, at the US Military Academy In West Point, New York, a female cadet 'A' grade on an obstacle course Is equal to a male cadet "C" grade. They call it gender norming.
Thia lowers the quality of personnel, says the general. "It
Is something like the reservation system Women need to score less than men to qualify But the purpose of the military Is not to provide Jobs. Our Job is to fight '
Such opinion notwithstanding. female presence In the Indian Armed Forces la expected to grow. For example, the Indian Navy Is thinking of inducting women into the technical service notably communication and traffic control.
The Air Force has already advertised for women cadets in the meteorology branch, apart from administration, education, law and logistics The overall performance of women Is on part with men." says Air Commodore SK Mitra who la the director general of the Air Force Medical Service. There are physiological problem* like pregnancy, but that has not affected their service."
-—Depthnews Asia