According to a leading daily, a total of 147,000 women have applied for the National Defence Academy (NDA) exam, accounting for approximately 22 per cent of the total 669,000 applications submitted this year.
While 570,000 applications were received last year, 178,000 of them were from women (31 per cent). Only 1,000 of these (178,000) passed the exam, and the results of their interviews are expected to be disclosed soon.
The NDA exam is held twice a year, with NDA-I taking place in the first half and NDA-II in the second. The NDA-I exam will take place on April 10 this year.
Captain Shalini Singh, a former Army officer ascribed the decline in applications to a likely lack of knowledge among women about the defence exam.
“The last (exam) was the first attempt, so there was a lot of excitement. However, through my conversations with women belonging to tier-2 cities and studying in class 11, I learnt that not many are aware that they can apply for the defence exam. There is also not much knowledge on how women need to go about it,” she said.
The Supreme Court, breaking a 65-year-old glass ceiling, dismissed the government's claim that the ban on women training at the Pune-based NDA was a policy decision in August last year, instead issued an interim order allowing them to appear for the exam in November.
Only male candidates who had completed class 12 or its equivalent schooling and were between the ages of 16 and 19 were eligible to apply, according to the eligibility rules at the time. Candidates who pass the NDA exam are invited to an interview by the Service Selection Board (SSB), after which they are recruited into the Indian army, navy, and air force wings of the NDA, as well as the INA pre-commission training course.
Women were allowed to serve as short-service commission (SSC) officers in select branches of the army, air force, and navy until the Supreme Court's order last year.
The first group of female candidates took the written exam administered by the Union Public Service Commission in November (UPSC). The commission certified 19 women candidates successful a month later.
On January 18, the Supreme Court ordered the government to explain why the number of women cadets in the 2019 NDA session will be limited to 19—same as the previous year.
The amount, according to the Centre, is based on good logic and contemporary military requirements. "A careful decision has been taken" to allot 10 seats for female cadets in the NDA for the army, three for the navy, and six for the air force, according to the statement.
Over the last six years, the number of women serving in the military has nearly tripled, with more opportunities opening up all the time. In February 2021, there were 118 women serving in the military.
In February 2020, the Supreme Court declared that SSC women officers are eligible for permanent commission (PC) in the army and navy, and that they must be considered regardless of their period of service. Around 5,020 female cops were granted PC as a result of this decision.