New Delhi: In the second major step towards enabling women officers in the armed forces to serve in combat roles in the past few months, it was the Navy’s turn on Wednesday to announce that it is “finalising” a policy for women officers “to serve on select warships that have appropriate facilities for women”.
IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha had recently announced that the first batch of Indian women fighter pilots, comprising three cadets, will be inducted in the Indian Air Force on June 18. The Navy also announced that “starting in 2017, women officers can choose to join as pilots of maritime reconnaissance planes — Boeing P8I, Dornier, etc — as also in the Naval Armament Inspectorate cadre” and that “a total of eight branches/ cadres will be opened for women officers in the Navy”. This marks a change in the positions of at least two of the three Services.
