Women Officers On-board Warships Soon: Navy Chief

Women aboard the warships of the Indian Navy will work shoulder-to-shoulder with men in the coming years.

On Friday, Indian Navy Chief Sunil Lanba, at the annual press conference of the Navy said that they are finalising a policy under which 'suitable facilities' are being incorporated in future ships to include women officers on-board.

The living conditions on the warships are very different, so the Navy has been trying to create such an environment that'll be suitable for women.

With regard to combat roles, the Admiral said that the womenfolk are already in combat roles, and that they already have "70 women officers as tactical operators or observers on maritime patrol aircrafts - Boeing (P8I) and the IL 38."

Further, he added that it will be the lady officer who'll be in charge of manning the console who will press the button that will drop the torpedo or fire the missile from the P8 I aircraft and that sooner or later they will be on-board.

The Navy is examining the rules and regulations for allowing women onboard ships. Admiral Lanba also said that they had an issue of availability of facilities onboard, however, the new construction ships are being made with suitable facilities that will embark women officials.

Vice-admiral Karambir Singh added that the Indian Navy has long-term plans to strengthen the force. This would include more ships, submarines, including nuclear submarines, aircraft, and manpower, The Hindu reported.

At present, the Indian Navy has a fleet of 134 ships, over 250 aircraft, and 13 submarines and as of now 34 ships are under construction at various shipyards in the country.

Official information revealed that women constituted a very small section in the armed forces, with the Air Forces had the highest digits of 1350, followed by the army with 1300, and Navy with just 450 women officers.

The Navy started recruiting women as Short Service Commissioned Officers since July, 1992.

Picture By: Bharat Rakshak

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Heena Manghani is an intern with SheThePeople.TV.