Army To Induct 800 Women In Military Police

Soon after the country got a new Defence Minister, the Indian Army has decided to appoint as many as 800 women jawans in the military police, a senior officer confirmed on Friday (Sept 8).

The idea of recruiting more women in the Army’s Corps of Military Police (CMP) will bring the much-needed balance in the sector.

While with this decision, we are moving a step towards breaking gender borders in the force, the women personnel would also be focusing on curbing gender-specific crimes in the country.

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Adjutant General of the Army, Lt. Gen. Ashwani Kumar, said while the plan is to induct a total 800 women, every year, 52 personnel would be inducted into the military police, NDTV reported.

In an interview to PTI in June, army chief General Bipin Rawat had said that the army was charting out plans to induct women jawans. Inducting women in military police corps is just the beginning.

Also read: India women army officers talk about the hurdles they face

The women personnel would not only be keeping track of the non-war zones, but will gradually take charge of the conflict-torn Kashmir Valley and help in tasks like frisking of women, another senior official said.

The Adjutant General said, “A decision has now been taken to introduce women in ranks (as jawans) starting from Corps of Military Police. Due to the increasing needs for investigation against gender-specific allegations and crime, a necessity was felt to introduce women in the CMP,” reads a statement from the Army 

A big thumbs-up for the decision, but induction of women in the Army’s combat arms is still a long way off. According to women officers, women jawans in combat roles will help the Army go forward. For this, it is necessary to prepare male jawans as well.

Also Read: Fighting their own battle, 340 women gets permanent commission as officers in the Indian army

While women still aren’t allowed beyond few selected areas such as medical, legal, educational, signals and engineering wings of the army, this decision would definitely help the country achieve new heights of gender stability in the force.

Feature Image Credit: India Times

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