Aircraft Doesn't Know If Pilot is Female or Male : Wing Commander Shaliza Dhami

Women in Air Force, civil aviation and military in general are on the rise. We are three times the number of women since 2016.

With over three decades women being in the Indian Air Force, there's a lot to celebrate about women in the Armed Forces. From Republic Day parades to flying fighter jets, women are touching the sky with glory. "It will be almost three decades for woman officers in IAF. Aircraft doesn't know whether it's a male or female officer who is flying it. It is the journey to sit in the aircraft that says everything -- whether we'll be able to do it or not," Wing Commander Shaliza Dhami said to ANI.

"If we were incapable of doing it, then we wouldn't have been at the spot. I have put in more 17 years of service and there are so many others like me," adds Wing Commander Shaliza Dhami.

The headcount of women in the military has increased almost three-fold over the last six years. The overall population of women, as per a recent discussion in Parliament, is almost 10,000 across the forces. There are 9,118 women currently serving the army, navy and air force. Just five years ago this figure was just one third.

Female Fighter Pilots

Back in 2016, India made history with the first ever batch of women fighter pilots get formally inducted into the forces. The commissioning ceremony took place at the Indian Air Force Academy in Hakimpet in Telangana that saw former Late Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in attendance. Avani Chaturvedi, Mohana Singh and Bhawna Kanth are the three pilots who were selected  by the IAF, and after months of rigorous training they joined the fighter squadron. More on them here

Women for Corps of Military Police (CMP)

Recently the minister of state for defence Shripad Naik told Rajya Sabha that India would has called for female induction in Women for Corps of Military Police (CMP) by creating  1,700 posts. The CMP is the first cadre to induct women in the non-officer rank.

Highest Number of Civil Pilots

India's aviation story is a powerful one as the country is number one on the charts when it comes to hiring female pilots across civil aviation.