Nidhi Rao* has 13 years’ experience serving in the communications wing of the Indian army. Now she is looking for work online and doesn’t know where to start. “I am jobless in the middle of a pandemic, with no financial security.”
When Rao joined the army, female officers were contracted for five years, after which time they might get an extension of five more years. Unlike men, they were not offered a permanent job. Later, the initial commission period was changed to 10 years, which could be extended a further four years.
While men retired with pensions and other benefits, women could never reach the pensionable service length of 20 years, and remained out of the senior ranks.
In 2010, after a group of female officers took their case to court, a ruling was made to put women on a par with men, but the Indian government challenged the order and refused to implement it. After a decade-long legal battle, in February last year India’s supreme court ruled the situation discriminatory and granted the women permanent status and entitlement to army pensions.
The authorities set up a board, dividing women into categories. Those with 14 or more years’ service were given either a permanent commission (PC) or the option to retire with a pension. Those with 10-14 years’ service were selected for a permanent position or released from the army without a pension.
In November, the army declared that 422 women out of 615 had been picked for permanent jobs. Rao was not among them. She says there were 68 such women from her service bracket who would be leaving without a pension.
“Most of us are past our mid-30s and are married and have children. Some are expecting a baby; some could not plan it due to the job uncertainty,” she says. “After serving the institution for more than a decade, they are asking us to go and restart our careers, at this age, in the Covid-hit market. Who will hire us? Where do we go?”
Anjali Sinha*, another affected soldier, says: “When I was pregnant, they asked me to run 5km and I did. When I gave birth, I rejoined within a week for fear of being relegated. I have worked in some of the most difficult terrains of the country, all while dealing with an unsupportive husband and family. And all this for what?”
Sinha is in the 11th year of her service. She says: “I was deemed fit till a few months ago. But now when I am demanding PC, I have been declared unfit. More than anything, it has hit my dignity. I am questioning my worth every single day.”
The female officers claim a lack of transparency in the selection process and say the true number granted PC may be lower than the army claims.
Prakash Patil, an army veteran, says women undergo the same military training as men but while most of the male officers are absorbed into permanent roles and offered career progression opportunities, most of the women have to drop out.
“When women were first inducted into the army in 1992, they were eulogised,” he says. “Newspapers published their interviews and compared them to female warriors of the past. But this antagonised many within the army, who simply could not bear the arrival of women. Hence, at every stage, women were made to prove themselves.”
Rao says that once she lived with her baby in a tent in the desert, and on another occasion faced extreme pressure from her seniors to move to another location even though she was in the later stages of a high-riskpregnancy.
Sinha says: “Men taunt us over maternity leave all the time. And, ironically, the same men then go on to take two-year-long breaks for specialised courses.”
When male officers opt for permanent roles they can choose to study advanced technical courses, Patil says. But women miss out on the opportunity to take such degrees, reducing their chances of getting back into the job market.
In September, Patil wrote to India’s president, Ram Nath Kovind, asking that the authorities grant permanency or pension to the 68 women, or help them get an advanced degree. He hasn’t received a reply. “What organisation in the world takes 14 years to judge a person’s worth?” he says. “You cannot just leave out the women in their twilight years.”
Lawyer Rakesh Kumar represents some of the 68 affected. “These women have been subjected to the policy’s gender bias. Further, there is no reasonable basis to distinguish them from those who have completed 14 years,” she says. “They should be at least allowed to serve 20 years.”
Rao and Sinha believe it is a deliberate ploy to keep women out of uniform. There are about 1,500 women in the Indian army, less than 4% of the total strength. They are still banned from combat roles.
“Most of the meritorious women in our batch have been chucked out,” Sinha says. “Most are absolutely fit and have no disciplinary cases against us. We have international shooters, bikers, and mountaineers who have represented India abroad and won medals for their work. Were they so afraid of us eating up command posts in future?”
*Names have been changed.
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