INDIA
Reporting for Duty
India’s Supreme Court ruled this week that women can be allowed to attend the country’s elite defense academy, a ruling that could potentially allow females to achieve high-ranking military positions in a field traditionally occupied by men, CNN reported Thursday.
The verdict said that women can take the National Defense Academy’s entrance exam in November, which would clear the way for female students to begin attending the institution next year.
The institution is a highly selective military academy that trains cadets for all three branches – the army, the navy and the air force. It has produced many of India’s top military leaders, including all the current chiefs of staff in all branches.
The court initially made the decision in August, but the government requested that it extend the deadline by a year, saying it needed more time to accommodate female cadets. The court rejected that request on Wednesday.
A lot of questions remain about how the academy will implement the new changes and what the development might mean for women in the military.
Currently, females only make up a very small fraction of India’s military – just 6.5 percent of the navy, 1.08 percent of the air force, and 0.56 percent of the army. They are also usually excluded from combat duties.
The decision follows a Supreme Court ruling last year that ordered the government to grant permanent commission and command positions to female officers.
That earlier ruling meant that women could serve beyond the previously enforced “short service commissions” – which ranged from 10 to 14 years – and made them eligible for the same promotions and pensions as their male counterparts.
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