{"id":351492,"date":"2025-12-08T15:16:47","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T09:46:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=351492"},"modified":"2025-12-09T10:18:36","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T04:48:36","slug":"permanent-commission-for-women-in-the-armed-forces-explained-pointwise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/permanent-commission-for-women-in-the-armed-forces-explained-pointwise\/","title":{"rendered":"Permanent Commission for Women in the Armed Forces &#8211; Explained Pointwise"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"btn btn-primary text-light\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Permanent-Commission-for-Women-in-the-Armed-Forces.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Download PDF Daily 7 PM Initiative for the day\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There has been a long history of struggle for ensuring the Permanent Commission for Women in the Armed Forces. There has been much progress in recent times, with women progressively getting more responsibilities in the armed forces. Yet, women officers continue to face multiple challenges and equality in true sense has still not been achieved. Further reforms in the implementation are necessary for overcoming these challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-351493 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-08-151515.png?resize=750%2C425&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Permanent Commission of Women in Armed Forces \" width=\"750\" height=\"425\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-08-151515.png?resize=1024%2C580&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-08-151515.png?resize=300%2C170&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-08-151515.png?resize=768%2C435&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-08-151515.png?w=1029&amp;ssl=1 1029w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 100%; text-align: center;\"><strong>Table of Content\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 100%;\"><a href=\"#h1\">What is the meaning of Permanent Commission?<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"#h2\">How has the Permanent Commission for Women in the Armed Forces evolved over time?<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"#h3\">What are the benefits of the Permanent Commission for Women?<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"#h4\">What are the challenges faced by Women in the Armed Forces?<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"#h5\">What should be the way forward?<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><b><a id=\"h1\"><\/a>What is the meaning of Permanent Commission?<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Permanent Commission (PC) means <\/span><b>continuing a career in the armed forces until retirement<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Personnel selected in the Armed Forces through Permanent Commission have the option of serving in the Force till the age of retirement.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For a long time, the option of Permanent Commission was offered only to the male officers. The Permanent Commission for Women was not allowed. <\/span><b>Female Officers were offered only the Short Service Commission (SSC) having a tenure of 10 + 4 years<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under the SSC system, the officers are enrolled for 10 years then they can continue their service for 4 years. After this completion of 10+4 years, the women officers were compulsorily made to opt out, while male officers could continue and take up permanent commission or they can also opt-out. Permanent Commission is granted to SSC officers subject to <\/span><b>service requirement<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>availability of vacancies<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This pattern has now changed and has become liberal towards female officers. Now, Women officers\u00a0 also have the option of permanent commission, on par with the male officers. The Supreme Court has played a major role in this colossal change that leads society one step closer to equality.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><b><a id=\"h2\"><\/a>How has the Permanent Commission for Women in the Armed Forces evolved over time?<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>Indian Military Nursing Services<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> originated in 1888 and women were given an opportunity to serve in the Armed Forces. The nurses of the Indian Army first served with distinction in World War I. Formation of <\/span><b>Women\u2019s Auxiliary Corps<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> allowed them to serve in primarily <\/span><b>non-combatant roles<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> like communications, accounting, administration etc. The opportunities for women officers were little.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After Independence, the participation of women in the Armed Forces remained limited. The Acts governing the Armed Forces restricted the role of women e.g., <\/span><b>Section 12 of the Army Act, 1950<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; <\/span><b>Section 12 of the Air Force Act, 1950<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; and <\/span><b>Section 9(2) of the Navy Act, 1957<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> explicitly <\/span><b>make women ineligible to participate in the respective services<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> except in such bodies\/departments\/corps as notified by the Union Government.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 1991-92, the Government issued notifications regarding the role of women in the Armed Forces. The roles were limited e.g., women were allowed to serve only in <\/span><b>Logistics<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><b>Law<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>Education<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> roles within the <\/span><b>Indian Navy<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Similarly the roles notified in the Indian Army were support roles (rather than core) like the <\/span><b>Army Postal Service<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><b>Army Education Corps<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Army Ordinance Corps and <\/span><b>Army Service Corps<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Food Scientists and Catering Officers) etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even in these limited roles, Women were limited only to the Short Service Commission (initially for 5 years only, later extended to 10+4 system). After completion of 14 years, women were asked to leave while eligible male officers were granted Permanent Commission.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The discriminatory provision led to numerous litigations.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2008, while litigations were sub judice, the Union Government granted a chance of obtaining a PC in the Armed Forces on a restricted basis. There were two major restrictions:<\/span>\n<ol style=\"list-style-type: lower-alpha;\">\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The policy was prospective (not retrospective) i.e., women will be offered Permanent Commission only after September 2008. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Permanent Commission will be offered only to <\/span><b>specific cadres and branches<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (and not universal PC).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Judiciary played a proactive role in ensuring permanent commission. The <\/span><b>Indian Air Force was first among the three services to grant PC to SSC women officers<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> post the Delhi High Court Judgment in <\/span><b><i>Jasmine Kaur vs. Union of India WP (C) 8492\/2009<\/i><\/b> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in favour of granting PC to women officers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similarly in the <\/span><b><i>Secretary, Ministry of Defence vs Babita Puniya (2020)<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> case, the Supreme Court granted equal rights to women with respect to the Permanent Commission. The SC held that all the women officers presently on SSC service are eligible to PCs. All the <\/span><b>choices of specialization shall be available to the women officers<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at the time of opting for the grant in PCs, on the same terms as their male counterparts. All the women officers who are eligible and granted PCs through SSC <\/span><b>should be entitled to all consequential perks<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> including pension, promotion, and financial incentives.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The SC also noted that although <\/span><b>Article 33<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the Indian Constitution did <\/span><b>allow for restrictions on Fundamental Rights in the Armed Forces<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, it is also clearly mentioned that it could be restricted only to the extent that it was necessary to ensure the proper discharge of duty and maintenance of discipline. Hence, denial of PC to women is violative of their fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 14.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><b><a id=\"h3\"><\/a>What are the benefits of the Permanent Commission for Women?<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Permanent Commission is central to <\/span><b>removing structural gender discrimination<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the armed forces.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It will provide <\/span><b>increased job security<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and extended tenure for women officers. It will help <\/span><b>improve the economic opportunities<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and improve social conditions and dignity of women. It will also ensure that women officers are not left unemployed after serving many years in the armed forces.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Supreme Court Judgment ensures that women officers also get <\/span><b>equal entitlements as men<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>boost their morale<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to serve in the services. Traditionally, women officers received no pension as they were contractually mandated to retire within 14 years of service, while defence personnel are entitled to benefits after 20 years in service.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Equality in opportunity and entitlements will ensure that <\/span><b>more women are attracted to serve<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the Armed Forces. It will <\/span><b>enlarge the talent pool<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of officers available for the Armed Forces. As of 2020, women officers in the Indian army (excluding the medical corps) numbered just about 3% compared to 16% in the US, 15% in France and 10% in both Russia and the UK.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In response to a question in Rajya Sabha in December 2021, the Minister of State for Defence said the Army has a shortage of 7,476 officers. Permanent Commission to women can help bridge the gap.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><b><a id=\"h4\"><\/a>What are the challenges faced by Women in the Armed Forces?<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><b>Skewed Gender Ratio<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Low number of women in the Armed Forces (3%) acts as a deterrent for many aspiring women to join the forces.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Work-Life Balance<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: A career in the armed forces is very challenging and demanding with odd work-locations and work hours. Women have dual responsibility of professional duties as well as <\/span><b>domestic care work<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The responsibility of childcare disproportionately falls on women. It is difficult to balance professional obligations with domestic responsibilities.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Limited Roles<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The roles offered to women officers are still limited. Women are still not allowed for combat roles in the Infantry\/Mechanised Infantry\/Armoured Corps\/Artillery or in the Ships\/Submarines. (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Indian Navy has, in-principle, accepted the proposal, subject to gender-specific facilities being created<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Gender Stereotypes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The Supreme Court in its Judgement in the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Babita Puniya<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> case had criticized the observation made by the Government in the affidavit submitted before the Court. The SC order castigated the Government for portraying women as <\/span><b>physiologically unfit for answering the \u201ccall beyond duty\u201d of the Army<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The note had observed that &#8220;<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">isolation and hardships would eat into their resolve and that they would have to heed to the call of pregnancy, childbirth and family<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;. The SC had criticized this patriarchal notion that domestic obligations rested only with women.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Discrimination<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: After the 2020 SC Judgment, the Army established additional conditions for female officers to be eligible for permanent commission. Most of them related to physical fitness, which many officers contended that the new criteria would inevitably keep women from gaining permanent tenures.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Biological limitations<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: According to studies carried out by the<\/span><b> Centre for Military Readiness in the United States<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, female soldiers, on an average, are shorter and smaller than men, with <\/span><b>45-50% less upper body strength<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>25-30% less aerobic capacity<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which is <\/span><b>essential for endurance<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. There is an argument that the <\/span><b>physical standards for women must be equivalent to the minimum\/satisfactory standards for men<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in supporting arms\/services. For <\/span><b>fighting arms and Special Forces<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, these should be at par with males to withstand the rigours of combat. Thus, on physical standards alone, the employment of women in armed forces gets restricted to specific roles.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><b><a id=\"h5\"><\/a>What should be the way forward?<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><b>Equality<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Equal rights and opportunities imply equal physical fitness standards, which must be based on the role and not gender. There are no separate battlefields for women.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Accept Gender-specific Rights<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The Forces will have to accept physiological and gender-specific rights like maternity and child care leave.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>No Preference\/Discrimination<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The armed forces are <\/span><b>merit-driven organisations<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and the women should compete on equal grounds to rise in ranks in a pyramidical set-up. There is no scope for reservations for promotion.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Frame a Pragmatic Policy<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The forces need to <\/span><b>shed their patriarchal attitude<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and frame a pragmatic policy for <\/span><b>gradual induction of women in all ranks and disciplines<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><b>Necessary infrastructure must be created for women soldiers<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Codify Rules and Regulations<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The terms and conditions of service for women must be codified, keeping in view the organisational interests. Military law, rules and regulations to <\/span><b>address gender crimes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and related problems must be laid down. Only volunteer women officers\/soldiers should be allowed to join fighting arms, subject to meeting the psychological and physical fitness standards. This is necessary as in the US military, <\/span><b>gender-related offences<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are by far the <\/span><b>most common type of discipline problem<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><b>Conclusion: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Permanent Commission is not just a matter of welfare or right to equal entitlements like pension. It is the idea to &#8220;give women an equal chance at nation-building\u201d. The Supreme Court&#8217;s Judgment in 2020 was only the first step in a long journey towards ensuring equal opportunity to women in the armed forces. The debate and legal battles, so far, have been based on gender parity and not on ethical evaluation of the performance of women. The Supreme Court judgments were more driven by Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution than by merit per se. Women aspirants and serving officers should also step up their resolve to meet the exacting physical, psychological and performance standards, and the conditions of service. The Armed Forces should also reform their policies to select the best talent for the role irrespective of gender. \u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 100%;\"><strong>UPSC GS-3: Internal Security<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Read More: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/sc-begins-hearing-pleas-of-women-army-officers-denied-permanent-commissions\/article69901921.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Hindu<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Download PDF Daily 7 PM Initiative for the day\u00a0 There has been a long history of struggle for ensuring the Permanent Commission for Women in the Armed Forces. There has been much progress in recent times, with women progressively getting more responsibilities in the armed forces. Yet, women officers continue to face multiple challenges and&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/permanent-commission-for-women-in-the-armed-forces-explained-pointwise\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Permanent Commission for Women in the Armed Forces &#8211; Explained Pointwise<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10391,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[130],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-351492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-pm","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10391"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351492\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}