Women officers percentage to go up in Indian Navy

Visakhapatnam: From the present 6 per cent, Indian Navy envisages an increased participation of women officers working in tandem with their male counterparts in almost all the branches of the force. As the number of departments in which the women officers are going to embark upon is witnessing an encouraging trend, they will soon be working in domains that they never did earlier. "The quality of output among women officers even at the time of induction is pretty good," mentioned Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, Flag Officer Commanding in Chief, Eastern Naval Command (ENC) recently in Visakhapatnam.

Currently, 30 women officers are deployed on various ships, serving different branches such as logistics and medical services and armament inspection. Going forward, the Vice Admiral said, a greater percentage of women officers would be inducted into the force as more and more departments are opening the doors gradually for them. A comprehensive study is in progress wherein discussions are held with the other navies along with civilian organisations to share best practices, take stock of the challenges present and enhance the infrastructure for the mixed workforce in the Indian Navy.

While a woman officer reached the highest rank of Vice Admiral as the Director General (Organisation and Personnel) of the Armed Forces Medical Services, Captain is the top rank attained in the non-medical branch of the force. Currently, about 538 women are working in the Indian Navy, serving multiple branches, forming 6 percent of the total workforce. With the Indian Navy absorbing women below officer rank for the first time in the history by inducting 20 percent of the Agniveer recruits, the count of the women workforce is eventually expected to go up over a period of time.