In a major development, the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Military Affairs amended the existing cadre management provisions applicable to women officers of the Territorial Army.
The policy measure is aimed at enhancing the scope of employment of women officers and also to meet their professional aspirations, said a defence ministry statement.
“Women Officers of the Territorial Army will now be posted with Engineer Regiments of the Territorial Army serving along the Line of Control (LoC) and as staff officers at TA Group Headquarters/ Directorate General of Territorial Army at New Delhi, as per organizational requirement,” it said.
The Territorial Army had commenced Commissioning of Women Officers in TA since 2019. Thus far these Woman Officers were able to serve Ecological Task Force Units, TA Oil sector units and TA Railway Engineer Regiment. Based on the experience gained during this period, a considered proposal was prepared to extend the employment scope further for women officers in TA which has now been approved by the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in April this year. This progressive policy measure is aimed at enhancing the scope of employment of Women Officers as also meet their professional aspirations since they will now serve and train under the same conditions as their male counterparts in a wider range of units and appointments including serving in challenging field conditions and in important staff appointments. The Territorial Army is based on a Citizen Soldiers’ army concept and officers undergo Annual Training on basic military skills while remaining gainfully employed in civilian life.
