From Margin to Mainstream:
Barriers to the Integration of Women into
Indian Armed Forces
Dr P. Radhakrishnan, |
Introduction
The armed forces of any nation are drawn from the citizens and so, their culture and working reflect larger social attitudes and thinking. Traditionally the Indian armed forces have been the sole realm of men. Changes in the status of women in society, demographic needs, abstract notions of political correctness and the changing nature of warfare itself led to women making inroads in this male preserve in the early nineties. In keeping with the changing societal trends and increasing complexities of military roles and career fields, women have been inducted into the Indian armed forces since 1992. Due to the small participation envisaged for women by the Indian military establishment their induction has been slow and measured only as commissioned officers, in limited numbers and in select career fields. Nearly a decade later, their integration remains contentious as the services have visualised a very restricted role for them and little has changed in career opportunities and exposure.
Gainful employment of women in the military has to tread a thin line without compromising organizational goals in defence readiness or individual careers in providing women with equitable terms of service and career opportunities. So, the Indian armed forces need to review certain discriminatory policy decisions such as the grant of only a short service commission to women where the total service tenable by them is a maximum of 14 years, combat exclusions, the preclusion of women from enlisted ranks etc as these have a direct bearing on the opportunities available to women and the extent of their employment. Policy directives on the role and employability of women in the Indian armed forces have largely remained situational and reactionary in nature with perhaps the most serious lacunae being the absence of any future vision. Consequently, the issue since its inception has lacked a systematic and planned approach.
Such discriminatory policy directives translate on to a day-to-day working level and interaction between men and women in the services. They manifest themselves as informal exclusionary practices and attitudes which breed prejudice in a normal working routine. These policies of differences have a direct bearing on the integration and assimilation of women into mainstream service life.
Short Service Commission
Women are inducted only as officers and not as non-commissioned officers (NCOs) or enlisted personnel. In the officer cadre too, all the three services offer only a short service commission (SSC) to its women officers. The SSC is an initial compulsory contractual tenure of five to seven years, depending upon the service, extendable to a maximum term of 10 years only. This was reviewed in the year 2002 and all the three services extended the term of the SSC. And now the total contractual service period is extendable to a maximum tenure of 14 years. Unlike other male officers, who have the option of a permanent commission at the time of joining or if they are SSC officers at the time of termination of their contract, women officers are not extended the option of a PC at any stage in their service. At the end of their maximum tenure of 14 years they have to leave the services. The ceiling on their tenure of service has a serous limiting effect on the career of women officers, as they reach a certain dead end in their career while they are in their early or mid thirties. As long as women as women officers in the services are denied the choice of a permanent commission, their service in the armed forces will remain merely a job and never a dedicated career option.
With a limited service span women neither have a career in the armed forces whereby they can look forward to growth and development in the organization nor are able to consolidate their position to contribute significantly to national defence. The policy is like the sword of Damocles hanging over the career of all women officers. In the shadow of such a policy, the futility of addressing other integration issues is well perceived. Only when women are employed on equitable terms will there be any meaning in pressing for further opportunities. From its own perspective, perhaps the government and the Service Headquarters should do a cost benefit analysis to see the feasibility of investing so much on training for such a short period of retention. This is true for all women officers in all the three services and is especially relevant for SSC women pilots where the cost and effort of training is greater. The experience of almost a decade of service comes to a naught when women leave the services in their prime. |
True to the spirit of any organization, service policies too are geared towards serving their own interests first and relegating individual careers and aspirations to shadowy backgrounds. The services today are suffering from an acute and acknowledged shortage of young officers. Since the shortage of officers is being experienced only at the junior levels, the armed forces do not envisage any role for women officers at senior levels soon. This restrictive bias is reflected in all current policies regarding employability and opportunities offered to women in the armed forces. With a limited service span and the restrictions placed on their role employability, women have a double disadvantage of a prejudicial policy, which even if they overcome, they do not have the experience necessary to attain higher ranks. Since women are not employed in any mainstream roles they miss out on important rungs on the ladder of experience, which are crucial for a command. Due to their continuing concentration in junior and middle levels they have no representation at the decision-making levels and are unable to project their point- to make their voices heard or effect any policy changes in their lot.
A limited service tenure has overall critical ramifications for women. Faced with a dead end in their career in their early thirties and unemployment, women officers have little choice but to either resign themselves to their domestic responsibilities or to struggle all over again in a highly competitive environment to re-establish themselves in a new career field. To have no options to continue in the armed forces after giving the organisation the best years of one's life is a highly stressful experience and often leads to periods of grave depression. Women officers, once they complete their tour of duty, have to cope with a sudden loss of status, occupation and remuneration all in one sweep. At the end of their short service tenure women officers are not eligible for any pensioners' benefits either and so, they lose out on economic gains as well.
Theory of Viable Numbers
The number of women inducted into the Indian armed forces is negligible. So far only 1150 women have served in the Indian army, making up to approximately 1.5 percent of the officer cadre. In the Indian Air Force the number of women who have served so far is 571, about 3.7 percent of the officer corps. In the Navy the total strength of women officers is 250, approximately 1.5 percent1. The figures indicate that the total number of women in the armed forces is miniscule because women are not allowed to compete on gender-neutral standards but have a limited number of vacancies assigned for them.
For such a small number to make any impact or to bring about any lasting substantial change is implausible. This will remain a non-issue until women are inducted into viable numbers. "The theory of viable numbers originates from what may be called a 'critical mass concept'. Simply put this is a minimum number that would give a group its clear identity, élan, and generate a sentiment of espirit de corps2". As of now women officers are too widely scattered and are fighting individual battles for greater opportunities and women as a group have failed to make a positive impact or to project a cohesive image in the Armed forces. For women as a group to have a commanding presence, to forcefully project their views and effect change they have to be inducted in sufficient strength.
In all countries where women have a large participation in the nation's armed forces they are inducted both as officers and as enlisted personnel. In India women are inducted only as commissioned officers. The Service Headquarters state that there is no immediate proposal to induct women in to the ranks. The major reason for this is the Indian social and cultural background and the ensuing conservative mindsets especially at the levels of the troops. Lower levels of education at the enlisted level also ensure that traditional mindsets regarding women and their 'correct' place in society continue. Other concerns are the lack of infrastructure and the administrative rehash required for such a change. Other issues that make the proposal unviable are discipline and related issues, domestic responsibilities of women and the inherent difficulty of a career in the armed forces. Keeping in mind the ground realities of the Indian armed forces, the induction of women into the ranks will be an exercise fraught with difficulties. Women can be inducted into the ranks once some level of acceptance is generated towards them but this process could still take many years.
Combat Exclusions
Career profiles of women are severely restricted because the Indian armed forces have a strict and formal combat exclusion policy for women and consequently women are posted in combat support Arms and Services only. The formal exclusion of women from the Fighting Arms has a serious limiting effect on the career prospects of women as the path to command and positions of authority at senior levels is through these specialties. Further though women are routinely employed in field areas in various support roles, they are not permitted to units in field that have any operational commitment or face any enemy threat.
Combat is the sole of the profession of arms3”. There is no denying that to be an integral part of the profession of arms combat experience is essential. For women to move from peripheral functions to core/mainstream service pursuits and to rise to any position of authority in the services hierarchy, combat options have to be considered. The issue has many complex strands and conflicting points of view, which have to be resolved before any conclusions can be arrived at. These range from the potential impact of such a resolution on national security, the tough physical requirements of combat assignments and whether women can meet the same, the effect of the presence of women on unit cohesion and morale and other physical and psychological factors.
Support functions have traditionally been valued less than combat jobs since combat functions contribute directly to the primary mission and combat personnel face the highest risk of attrition. The unspoken hierarchy of combat functions is validated by the higher status, pay and allowances and greater opportunities for career advancement that combat personnel enjoy. The path to command and senior ranks in all the three Services also charts its way through the central mission of the armed forces, which is combat. Since most women perform support roles their work is valued less and they are not acceded equal status or opportunities in the armed forces. In the Indian armed forces even if the terms and conditions of service for women were to be made equitable with men, without any frontline experience women can never compete for senior positions on a par with their male counterparts.
It is a common mantra of good management that people work efficiently when they have future goals and prospects to work towards. A transparent, unbiased system of growth with associated powers and advancement opportunities are incentives for peak performances. Within the Indian armed forces as Air Commodore S M Hundiwala in his article, Women in the Indian Armed forces- Problems and Prospects rightly explains- "Lack of individual challenge confronts a vast majority of servicewomen who find themselves in 'catch-22' situation of being a non- combatant (therefore of professionally subordinate status), and often without responsibility commensurate with rank, position and seniority- the three most acknowledged tools of authority in the armed forces4". Since women are assigned only to support branches/ corps in the three services, the majority of profiles to which women are designated tend to be routine and uninspiring desk jobs. The thrill and adventure associated with a career in the armed forces remains an unfulfilled aspiration for most. Most women find the Services not matching with their expectations, in terms that their work profiles are not challenging enough. Women who do cite achievements in the armed forces are more as a matter of chance and the right connections rather than systematic opportunities accorded to all women officers in the Services.
In the Indian Army women are commissioned in the Army Supplies Corp, Army Ordnance Corp, Army Education Corp, Corp of Engineers, Corp of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Corp of Signals, Intelligence Corp, Air Defence Artillery and Judge Advocate General Branch. Women are excluded from the Infantry, Armour and Artillery-the mainstay fighting forces.
In the Indian Navy women are commissioned in the Law Cadre, ATC, Logistics Cadre and Education Branch. Women are excluded from the Executive Branch though Law, ATC and Logistics do form part of the Executive Branch; they are not the executive paths to a command. Women are also excluded from the Engineering branch, the Electrical branch, Naval Aviation, Submarines and Diving.
In the Indian Air Force women are commissioned in the Flying Branch as transport and helicopter pilots, in the Technical Branch as Aeronautical Engineers (Electrical) and (Mechanical), in the Ground Duty Branches i.e. Administrative and Logistics Branch, Accounts Branch, Education Branch, and Meteorological Branch. A few courses of women were inducted into the Air Traffic Controller/ Fighter Controller Branch, but the commission has since been stopped. Women in the Flying Branch can only fly transport aircraft namely Avro and An 32 and only Chetak and Cheetah helicopters. All other transport aircrafts and helicopters specialties are closed to women. Also closed are all fighter aircrafts.
|
In the Indian context, the debate of opening combat specialties to women is a little premature as women are yet to find a stronghold or receive equal opportunities even in support functions. There is an utter lack of seriousness to perceive the armed forces as a serious career option for women by most men and by a cross section of women themselves who are content with their limited service role. The issue is really a non-issue from the organizational point of view since in the present measured utilisation of women; combat duties are not even an option visible in the distant horizon. As there is no practical knowledge gleaned on the subject from lack of experience, studies or trials, the debate on women in combat in the Indian context remains restricted to the realms of theory. Moreover since the issue is not justified by military necessity there is little heed paid to the entire debate. Demographically, India does not face any manpower shortages, rather conversely it is reeling under its population pressure and rife unemployment. Due to this, there is little pressing reason for the conservatives to reconsider the present policy and customs. But in the interest of fairness, if women have been inducted, they deserve the same opportunities for career advancement as men without any dilutions in standards to accommodate them.
Once these issues are resolved the services could then consider reviewing some of other policies regarding the career graph of women in the armed forces. In terms of career opportunities and exposures, little has changed for women since their induction. The present lot of women officers is only a shade better as a result of a few minor policy changes made over the years. Most career courses, including all arms courses such as the Junior Commanders Course and all combat related courses in the army, which are mandatory for male officers, remain closed for women. In the Navy and the air force too, all courses of long duration and professional augmentation such as flying instructors course, test pilots course in the air force, navigation and direction course, long gunnery course in the Navy etc are closed to women. Due to their limited service bracket women officers' are excluded from most courses, this and their narrow service profile result in most women officers having a limited professional knowledge base. So, they are unable to compete for other career enhancement courses such as the staff course which is a combined course for all the three services and is considered important for promotions and appointments. In terms of other service activities and exposures the aspirations, initiations, encouragement and fulfillment remains at an individual level and does not translate into any policy for women officers as a whole. Few women do cite achievements and challenges, but these exposures are more a matter of chance and luck rather than systematic opportunities available to all women officers. Also most such achievements are restricted to adventure activities and not core professional tasks.
Apart from limiting career opportunities exclusions from combat arms for women as a policy, also results in loss of financial benefits and seriously limits their promotions, posting profiles and their numbers in the Services. Women lose out on pecuniary gains as combatants enjoy certain allowances based on their skills, career fields and assignments. These allowances include Difficult Area Allowance, High Altitude and Uncongenial Climate Allowance, Siachen Allowance, Hazard and Special Hazard Pay, Snow and Avalanche Pay, Parachute Pay, Special Commando Pay, certain other allowances etc. A ceiling on their promotions because of limited short service tenure and a combat exclusion policy also means a ceiling on the grade of their pay scales.
Exclusionary Policies and Prejudices
Discriminatory policies and service conditions reflect a lack of acceptance at the organisation level and reinforces the apprehensions at the day-to-day working level. Even when women perform the jobs assigned to them with utmost efficiency, lingering doubts about the capabilities to a handle a situation independently almost always exist and there are greater checks on their performance with many bosses showing an informal preference for male colleagues. This general absence of confidence in the abilities of women to perform par with men and a constant close scrutiny of all their activities lays great pressure on women to demonstrate and affirm their worth to gain acceptance. The high visibility potential of all women further highlights the negative approach, lesser commitment and performance of some individuals towards their career and is made to reflect on all women in general, overlooking that ability is not conditional to gender. Since socialization works on the law of large numbers the practice of sweeping generalizations, partially limit the optimum use of women and reinforce individual perceptions.
Apart from exclusions from core service activities that are mandated by policies, women officers are also marginal to the male dominated masculine culture of the services. Because of being relegated to the periphery of this male dominated arena and simultaneous disassociation with their own gender on account of a non- traditional career choice, women officers often face dilemmas of identity. Women in their endeavour of securing credence in this predominant male set-up, disinherit themselves from traditional female roles. Yet no matter how hard they try they are never really accepted as 'one of the boys' and often find that they are not really a part of any social group. Since soldiering is traditionally viewed as a male pursuit, women bearing arms are seen as imbibing soldierly and so called masculine values, which are in conflict with the expected social pattern of feminine behaviour thus creating further confusion about their identity. "Their ascribed status (sex) conflicts with their achieved status (occupation), thus creating confusion of social identity because society defines soldering as a male vocation5". Society at large admires and is yet hard on women who do not fit popular expectations. Moreover, their choice of career and assimilation in the services is an uncomfortable and ideologically awkward issue as women are traditionally associated with peace and passivity and not as perpetuators of violence.
The Way Ahead
To ensure the integration of women in mainstream service life; the organization has to institute certain measures that will ultimately help to formulate policy directives that will further lead to equality and empowerment of all service members and result in the optimum utilization of all its human resources. Further, the initiation of such measures will reflect the organization's commitment to eliminate discrimination both positive and negative on the basis of gender and will impact attitudinal barriers towards women in everyday working life and bring about greater acceptance. Since women are a marginal entity, and are concentrated in junior levels, they lack the 'critical mass' and positions of power to affect any change themselves. Women officers have no common platform in the official channel where their point of view can be projected to policy makers and planners.
Therefore these measures could include instituting Committees or other Advisory bodies with powers to influence change. The services should also commission studies and reports on all aspects concerning military women and their employability and hold trials to test realities versus presumptions as these will help to dispel myths regarding the role employability of women and highlight the various facts and facets of military women's. The aim behind all such measures would be the effective employment of women in the military. To ensure the implementation of changing policies and legislations legal recourse and intervention by courts can be sought to bring about parity in the service profile of men and women. |
Conclusion
For a professional army there is no more valuable military resource than its personnel. In optimally utilizing its human resources the Indian armed forces have overlooked the capabilities of its women soldiers to a large extent and have ascribed a very limited role to them. To mitigate this oversight, the Indian armed forces have to take steps to integrate women into mainstream service life. Initiating policies that do not limit the career spans and opportunities of women officers would be a right step in this direction. Such policies have to be based on adequate research and trials on every aspect of their employability. Attitudes and perceptions of both men and women too should change with time and experience, to foster a cohesive work environment based on mutual respect. The synergistic skills of both men and women soldiers are essential for the Indian armed forces to function effectively.
Deepanjali Bakshi is a retired army captain
End Notes
- Data collected from the Indian Army, Air Force and Naval Headquarters.
- Air Commodore S M Hundiwala, VM & Bar, 'Women in the Armed forces Problems and Prospects', NDC Journal, Vol XIV, No 92, pp63.
- Alexander F.C. Webster, 'Paradigms of the Contemporary American Soldier and Women in the Military', Strategic Review, Summer 1991, pp28.
- Air Commodore S M Hundiwala, VM & Bar, 'Women in the Armed forces Problems and Prospects', NDC Journal, Vol XIV, No 92, pp65.
- Karen O. Dunivin, 'Adapting to a Man's World: United States Air Force Female Officers', Defense Analysis, Vol7.No1, 1991, pp97.
