Five Women Officers Granted Time Scale Colonel Rank

The Indian Army's Selection Board has cleared the way for the promotion of five women officers to Colonel (Time Scale) rank, post completion of 26 years of reckonable service.

This is the first time that women officers serving with the Corps of Signals, Corps of Electronic and Mechanical Engineers (EME) and the Corps of Engineers have been approved to the rank of Colonel.

Previously, promotion to the rank of Colonel was only applicable for women officers in the Army Medical Corps (AMC), Judge Advocate General (JAG) and the Army Education Corps (AEC).

Five women officers selected for Colonel Time Scale rank are -

Lt Col Sangeeta Sardana, Corps of Signals
Lt Col Sonia Anand, Corps of EME
Lt Col Navneet Duggal, Corps of EME
Lt Col Reenu Khanna, Corps of Engineers
Lt Col Ritcha Sagar, Corps of Engineers

Also read: Big Breaking: SC Passes Interim Order Allowing Women To Appear For NDA Exam

Lieutenant colonels become eligible to be promoted as colonels after 16-18 years of service. However, they do not get promoted at times due to lack of vacancies, or if the Army’s promotional board does not clear their names. Such officers are made time-scale colonels after they complete 26 years in service, according to The Print.

“Combined with the decision to grant permanent commission to women officers from a majority of branches of the Indian Army, this step defines the Indian Army’s approach towards a gender-neutral Army,” the defence ministry said in its release.

In a big development, the Supreme Court last week passed an interim order allowing women to take the admission exam to National Defence Academy (NDA) where earlier only men could join.

Women are making great strides in Indian Army. It recently inducted its first batch of 83 women soldiers from the Corps of Military Police Centre and School into the Indian Army at the Dronacharya Parade Ground in Bengaluru. An attestation parade was held for the first batch of women soldiers.