New Delhi:
For 4 years, women in the army have been fighting a battle of their own: to be treated at par with men. But in a huge setback, the government has told the Delhi High Court that this is not possible; not yet, anyway.
The issue is that women officers cannot serve for more than 14 years. The government's rationale for this has puzzled many experts. It argues that granting permanent commission to women would be very expensive. Currently, the army has not budgeted for long-term salaries for women.
So in order to keep them on beyond 14 years, it would have to find additional funds. But mainly, the issue seems to be this: that getting cadres to accept women would be a huge problem.
Women were first allowed into the army in 1992 but in non-combat jobs.
A year ago, the government did revise its rule to allow women the same tenure in the Medical and Ordinance Divisions. So women officers in these positions will be entitled to pension, but those who've already retired will not be eligible. That rules out nearly 1500 women. Like Major Sandhya Yadav, who retired a few months ago, after putting in 14 years. "Corporates don't value army experience much. To top it all, there's a recession in the market. Where do we go from here?" she asks.
The Delhi High Court will next hear the case in November.