24 April,2009 08:58 AM IST | | Anshuman G Dutta
Delhi High Court to hear women officer's plea for permanent commission
Embarrassment and money are some of the reasons that kept the government and the Army from providing permanent commission to women officers in the Army.
The Delhi High Court will hear today a bunch of petitions by 21 women officers in this regard. Similar petitions were filed by the Air Force officers too.
Women are inducted in the Army as officers under the Short Service Commission (SSC) for a maximum period of 14 years but their male counterparts are eligible to receive permanent commission after five years.
"Anyways, giving permanent commission to the serving officers would result into another burden on the exchequer," said a senior official in the Ministry of Defence, requesting anonymity. On the other hand, the Army believes that it would cause them serious embarrassment if a women officer was taken prisoner of war.u00a0
The government had mooted providing permanent commission to women in the army but that was only limited to two units the Judge Advocate General and the Army Education Corps.
Most of serving womenu00a0 are on the verge of retirement. "Even though they have proved their worth in the Army, the Defence Ministry is not ready to turn their Short Service Commission (SSC) into permanent commission," said a petitioner, requesting anonymity.u00a0 She also rejected the money considerations by the government, saying it was a ploy to stop them from being eligible to recieve pension.
"It's a clear case of gender discrimination by the Army that is facing a shortage of officers," said Rekha Palli, the petitioner's counsel.
