Defence Ministry moves tentative but welcome 

In recent days, the Ministry of Defence has taken two important decisions that deserve attention: It has decided to tweak a faulty 2009 promotion policy that was the source of much disenchantment within the Army; and it has cleared the decks for the induction of women in combat roles in the Indian Air Force. In the first case, it has acknowledged that the policy was a “bona fide mistake”, and offered to make course corrections by creating 140 new positions that will absorb those who had been unfairly denied a promotion. The 2009 policy was based on the ‘command and exit' model, wherein Commanding Officers would exit the Command early to become Colonels. The idea was to have younger officers as battalion and brigade commanders and move older officers to senior positions so as to boost their career aspirations. However, the problem was that the policy was disproportionately in favour of the Arms wing which comprises the infantry and the artillery. The others wings, especially Support Arms and Services, were given only a sliver of the promotion pie. Of the 734 Colonels appointed after 2009, about 600 were from the Arms wing. This was not the case for the 750 Colonel positions that had been filled before 2009 as they were done on a pro rata basis, ensuring batch parity. That this policy, even if well-intentioned, was unsustainable, was clear from the beginning. When the proposal for policy change was circulated in the Army headquarters, 12 of the 16 senior-most lieutenant Generals who reviewed the document reportedly expressed grave reservations. Earlier this year, the Armed Forces Tribunal also struck down the policy as arbitrary and in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, in response to a petition filed by 34 lieutenant Colonels from the Ordinance, Services, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering and Support Arms wings. Eventually, the matter was brought before the Supreme Court, which also criticised the ‘command and exit' policy and urged the Government to find an equitable solution. The Ministry of Defence responded by creating the new positions.

In the second case, the Ministry's decision to welcome women in combat roles in the Air Force is a progressive move that is in keeping with the times. Currently, the Air Force allows women to fly helicopters, transport aircraft etc, but does not accept them as fighter-pilots. However, as the Ministry of Defence itself acknowledged, women have proved themselves to be at par with their male counterparts, and it is only in the fitness of things that they be given an equal opportunity to serve the country. All eyes are now on the Army and the Navy. In both these Services, women are already serving in a wide variety of roles, from air defence and submarines to engineering and intelligence, and allowing them into combat roles, many say, is the next logical step. In fact, the Navy has already made the first move in this direction by opening almost ‘all flying areas’ to women. However, at the same time, the Navy and the Ministry of Defence have also opposed a Delhi High Court order that women in the Short Service Commission be allowed Permanent Commission. The opposition is on technical grounds, and not gender-specific. This must be resolved at the earliest.