New Delhi: The Army has finalised a plan to induct women in the military police, seen as a major move towards breaking gender barriers in the force.
Adjutant General of the Army Lt. Gen. Ashwani Kumar said on Friday it planned to induct about 800 women in the military police with a yearly intake of 52 personnel.
Another senior official, who did not wish to be named, said some of the women personnel would be gradually stationed in the conflict-torn Kashmir Valley to carry out various kinds of tasks such as frisking of women.
The Adjutant General said the decision to induct women in the corps of the Military Police was taken keeping in view the “increasing needs for investigation against gender-specific allegations and crime”.
The announcement is major step towards the eventual opening up of doors to women in combat roles. It came a day after Nirmala Sitharaman took over as the country’s first full-time woman defence minister.
The decision was conveyed to former Army chiefs today by incumbent Gen. Bipin Rawat at the biennial Chiefs’ Conclave where they were also apprised of the overall security challenges facing the country, including on the borders with China and Pakistan.
“We have finalised the proposal of inducting women in the military police,” Kumar told reporters here.
