in our country are beneficiaries of equal rights with men. It is so because ours is a democratic and egalitarian country where both genders play equal part in any field of activity. Women recruitment in the armed forces has never been something of taboo. However, there has been limited motivation for recruiting women in the rank and file of armed forces. Punjab Government has ‘Mai Bhago Armed Forces Preparatory Institute’, which should give a lead to more institutions like that in the country. Speaking at a function of this institution, Defence Minister has said that he intends to take some big decisions in next couple of months in regard to increasing the number of women soldiers in the armed forces. At present it was as small as 3,298 only.
We have hundreds of thousands of families in our country which have the glorious tradition of serving in the defence organization generation after generation. Most of these families are bedecked with military honours. The family tradition is shared equally by male and female members of the household. This should go a long way in motivating the women of these households and others to join the army. Hopefully, as the Minister has stated, the Government is working on a comprehensive plan of motivating the women in the country to join armed forces. Our brave girls in schools and colleges are keen to join various auxiliary services like NCC and other formations. All they require is proper incentive, guidance and encouragement. In some specific branches of armed forces, like communication, medical services, supplies, research, computer technology, women can make their mark. But not only that, we are confident that our patriotic women can be as good a soldier to defend the border as men are. They have given proof of their ability and dedication. They have also made sacrifices along with men. Recruitment of women in armed forces should be undertaken by the Defence Recruitment of women in larger numbers will also be part of the Modi Government’s policy of women empowerment.
Though constitutionally there is no discrimination against the women, but administratively speaking some restrictions had been imposed on the recruitment of women for tactical reasons. Perhaps the time has come for the Government to re-visit those restrictions and scrap such of these as are redundant. This is also what the Defence Minister has hinted at. We welcome the decision of large scale recruitment of women in defence forces and we congratulate the Defence Minister for taking steps to remove existing restrictions on women recruitment.
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