A selection committee of the Indian Army has approved the promotion of five women officers, elevating them to the rank of Colonel (Time Scale), after they have successfully completed 26 years of service. The five women officers selected for this promotion are Lieutenant Colonel Sangeeta Sardana from Signals, Lieutenant Colonel Sonia Anand and Lieutenant Colonel Navneet Duggal from EME, and Lieutenant Colonel Reenu Khanna and Lieutenant Colonel Ritcha Sagar from the Engineers.
This is the first time that women officers serving with these Corps have been elevated to the rank of Colonel. Previously, a promotion to the rank of Colonel was only applicable to women officers in the Army Medical Corps (AMC), Judge Advocate General (JAG), and the Army Education Corps (AEC). In fact, the first woman officer ever to get promoted to the rank of Colonel, was from JAG.
According to an Army spokesperson, the broadening of promotion opportunities across more branches of the Indian Army, is a sign of increasing career breaks for women officers.