New Delhi: The Centre has told the Supreme Court that a notification to include girls in the National Defence Academy will be issued in May 2022. Before that, experts from all three armed forces are working on the criteria for selection of women cadets. The parameters on training of girls to be selected are also being decided. At the same time, the requirements of infrastructure and support staff to keep women cadets in the academy are also being assessed.
Advocate Kush Kalra filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking equal opportunities for girls to join the army. It is mentioned in it that the National Defence Academy which appoints young officers in the army gives admission only to boys. Doing so is a violation of the fundamental rights of qualified girls who want to join the army and serve the country.
In a hearing on September 8, the Centre had told the Supreme Court that it had decided to give commission to girls in the army through NDA. Now an affidavit has been filed about the same.
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An affidavit filed by the Defence Ministry said that the three armed forces are ready to appoint women officers through NDA. Before that the required standards are being set.
The affidavit says that cadets between ages of 16 and half and 19 and a half years and who pass the 10+2 exam are recruited. Only physically fit cadets are selected. The physical parameters for the boys are fixed. There is a discussion on setting criteria for girls. Similarly, it is being thought about on how the training methods for girls should be changed that are suitable for them and also meet the needs of the army.
The ministry has said that it is yet to be decided in which component of the army how much vacancy will be there and for how many women officers. The cadets are currently kept in cabins in NDA. Construction of cabins for women cadets, construction of other infrastructure keeping in view their privacy needs are also under consideration. A decision is also to be taken on the support staff required for training of girls.
Giving all these details, the Centre has assured the court that UPSC will issue notification inviting applications for NDA entrance examination from girls also in May 2022. That is, next year girls will also be able to appear for NDA entrance exam. Girls who pass it and meet the physical criteria will be able to get admission in the academy.