An officer and a lady: 30-year fight for equality in the armed forces

This 2022 marks the 30th anniversary of the moment that the Indian Army started inducting women in branches other than the medical corps. This historic moment in 1992 was just the beginning of the journey that women would chart in the armed forces, with a slow progression to the present time where women are also allowed as personnel below officer rank (PBOR).

It's been an epic journey, especially for the 615 women who fought for permanent commission because the Ministry of Defence only allowed women to work for Short Service Commissions (SSC) which was initially just five years of service and then was gradually increased to 14 years of service.

From 2003 to 2020, these pioneer women fought a long, lonely battle for equality, to get the same pay, same perks as their male peers. Even after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced it as a policy division in 2018, that women would be given permanent commission, it was still blocked in other ways in courts.

In this week's episode of First Voice, Last Word podcast, four retired women from the Army, Navy and the Air Force tell us their journey and whether women face discrimination. Here's their journey in their own words.

Greeshma Mannari: "I joined the Army in the year 2000. I was part of the millennium batch, so to speak and then I got commissioned. My dad had already put in a couple of decades of service in the olive green uniform. That was one of the major reasons that one felt inspired to wear the uniform.

And of course the financial and physical independence, so to speak, that would have come to a young woman of 21-22 via the profession. I had no apprehension about joining the Army. I was not coming from a civilian background as many of my course mates. The little bit of discrimination that one might have seen, surprisingly enough, came from the much more educated officer lot, if you can categorise them as such, rather than from soldiers.

They respect the ranks that you are wearing, or maybe at some level it is also about the Fauji ethos of ‘there should not be any question’. On an average, one may not find a lot of discrimination because of your gender. As my Malayali mother says that you can’t wait for the waves in the ocean to be over you launch your ship.

As far as discrimination goes, the Army is like a microcosm of the Indian society but much disciplined micro-column, if I might have the audacity to say so. India society is patriarchal to a certain extent. The Army will also reflect some part of that mindset in some ways".

Lt. Commander Seema Verma: "I joined Navy in 1993 and left in 2006 ahead of my 14-year tenure. I was thrilled to hear that Navy has finally decided to become a more gender inclusive organisation. It is a step in the right direction to have an entry scheme where men, women will compete equally and will be given the same opportunity.

The best ones will get filtered and they will move up in the hierarchy. It’s good. If I’m not wrong, the women sailor’s entry is part of the ‘Agniveer’ scheme and the entry is open for most of the branches in the Navy, which also includes getting to ships, which is great.

I feel good both the women who are given this opportunity and for the Navy which has eventually matured as an organisation to open the doors for anyone to come and prove themselves and serve the country. Of course, there will be issues, some exceptional cases, but which organisation doesn’t have that? I have one humble suggestion to the Navy, to the ones making these policies, is that they should implement a strong sensitisation programme for men to face this change to have women around them as colleagues or as subordinates. When I say men, it’s the sailors.

Sailors are used to having women as officers, they see them as their superiors. But they may not be used to having women as their colleagues, working along with them, training along with them etc. It’s important that they are sensitised in advance.

An instance I would like to recall is about my experience on INS Tarangini. In 2003, INS Tarangini, the sail training ship had started the first circum-navigation of the globe. It was a 15-month voyage and the crew would rotate at a specific leg of the voyage. My name was sent as a crew of one of the legs of the voyage, that is from Spain to Bermuda to New York, which included crossing of Atlantic, bypassing Bermuda Triangle. I was thrilled with excitement, despite the fact that I was extremely, extremely sea sick.

My friends came and told me, “Are you mad? Don’t go, you are going to die. This is not a joke. This is sail ship which is really going to make you feel sick.” I am that kind of sea sick where even the start of the engine noise of the boat can churn my stomach and this was a sail ship. The rolling and pitching in this would be extremely strong compared to any other ship.

But I accepted the challenge and went on with it. I had difficult times, really difficult times. I am saying It in very simple words but I had really difficult times. But slowly, got used to the pain of constantly throwing up. It sort of became part of my routine. We completed that leg successfully. I created a lot of good memories of that journey.

Squadron Leader Sumedha Chopra (joined the Air Force in 2009): "It did not even occur to me that it is a male dominated society. That was never the pretext in my head before going for the forces. Because, probably I was so happy and so overwhelmed with the feeling of adoring that uniform and being the first woman in my entire town as well as the district to be going for it. One incident I recall is when I took up the command of a unit of some 200 people. I had to prove to them that they can believe and take my orders, which they will because they are placed below in rank to me.

But there were people of my father’s age, people from a patriarchal society and I wanted to bridge that gap really early on. My approach for the initial three or four months was that I used to go on tea breaks with them, I used to go to the field with them. So that they knew my mettle and thatI had that capability to give them directions.

Honestly, after that there were challenges but it was such a smooth ride for me when people were ready to come up to me with their problems and they showed that respect and that confidence in me . We did so many exercises and even hosted a foreign Air Force team. I guess that one of the moments where I realised that this is required and I worked on it and it turned out to be so beautiful.

We have already come a long way it's been 30 years now. We are still the minority in the forces. Maybe there were few times when I doubted myself as a woman. But defence, Air Force put me into that place wherein they never showed that doubt that you can't do it. They just paved the path or give us ways and means to perform. So, I am sure future is going to be really bright and we are just progressing from here.

Getting women in the NDA, to the fighter stream is already a testimony in itself that we are progressing and making the equal opportunities and women at the same time are also proving their worth. Just because of their gender it's not necessary that they are any less because the machine and aircraft doesn't know who's flying whether it's a man or woman and for any other work. There can be a different way to tackle the situation which comes naturally to us women and men or as different personalities but that diversity also brings the best in the whole environment".

Squadron Leader Varlin Panwar (served for 10 years as fighter controller in the IAF)

I don’t know what a male dominated force means. All that matters here is how good a leader you are, not the gender. I have led my team during deployments and operations but not even once this thought crossed my mind that I am a girl leading a pack of men. There is no place for such notions.

There is equal opportunity for everyone. Women have been breaking the glass ceiling for long they will cross many such hurdles and be shoulder to shoulder with all the men in this world. I am glad that I chose this organisation. In fact, I would like reframe this as—I am glad this organisation chose me.

I have served for ten years as a fighter controller in the IAF. This branch not only requires quick reaction but also has zero scope for errors. There have been many instances where I had to tactical decisions to ensure national security. Many a times, I just had a couple of minutes to scramble a fighter jet towards unknown aircraft entering into our territory. In such missions a pilot’s situational awareness is built by us.

And not only launching a mission but also ensuring that the pilot lands back safely is in our hands. This requires huge amount multitasking and presence of mind and women are known to be good at multitasking. So yes being a woman has always given me a competitive edge over men than other way around. But to sum it up in forces, gender takes a backseat and all that matters is the rigorous training that we have to go through to get an upper hand over our adversaries".