In a first, the Indian Navy is looking to deploy more and more women officers on its warships. The move comes after a momentous year for Indian women in the defence forces, where not only did the Supreme Court open the doors of the National Defence Academy (NDA) in a landmark ruling in October 2021, but the Indian Navy itself decided to deploy women officers on warships in early 2021. After almost 25 years, the Navy deployed four women on its warships—a number which has gone up to 28, as of December 2021.
“The number of women on warship duties is steadily increasing. We are looking at deploying two to three women officers on every warship. Currently, 28 women are serving aboard around 15 warships,” a second senior officer reportedly told Hindustan Times. He also revealed that women are serving as pilots, observers, logistics officers and doctors on these warships. “We have taken measures towards providing additional opportunities for women officers. They have been appointed on board almost all major warships. Induction of women officers into the information technology branch will commence in June 2022,” Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said at his annual press briefing on the eve of Indian Navy Day, which is held on December 4 each year.
While women have served in the Navy’s medical wing for decades now, their inclusion in other roles on warships does open up more opportunities for them. The Navy has also reportedly revealed that they are looking at providing women with more such opportunities. This is great news for women looking to join and rise through the ranks in the Navy, because apart from the medical wing where women have served for decades, the Navy accounts for more than 700 women officers—a mere 6.5 per cent of their overall officer cadre, as of March 2021 statistics. In addition, submarines operated by the Indian Navy are still off-limits to women.
However, it looks like change is on the horizon, especially since the moves the Navy has made since early 2021. Two women crew members each were deployed to India’s only aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, and fleet tanker INS Shakti at this point in time. The previous attempt at deploying women soldiers aboard warships was taken in 1997, when women from the logistics and medical branches were deployed to the fleet tanker, INS Jyoti, in a short-lived experiment.
*Image for representative purpose. Image courtesy: Twitter/annamalai_k