NEW DELHI: Women have broken through another glass ceiling, albeit a lower one, in the Army. Lieutenant Ganeve Lalji, a military intelligence officer with barely two years of service, has become the first-ever woman officerto be posted as the aide-de-camp (French forfield assistance) of a top general.
While the Navy for long has posted women officers as ‘flag lieutenants’ to their admirals, this is the first time there will be a woman ADC in the Army. Lt Lalji will be the ADC to Lt-General Rajan Bakhshi, slated to take over the reins of the Central Army Command at Lucknow from Lt-Gen Anil Chait on July 1.
“Lt Lalji, commissioned into the intelligence corps from the Officers’ Training Academy in Chennai in September 2011, is a third-generation Army officer after her father and grandfather. She excelled in her basic young officers’ course. She is also a keen adventure enthusiast and has undergone mountaineering and skiing coursesat Western Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Manali,” said a senior officer.
There are just 1,200 women officers in the Army, 300 in Navy and 1,100 in IAF despite they being inducted in the armed forces since 1992-93. Till recently, they could serve just a maximum of 14 years in branches like signals, engineers, aviation, intelligence, ordnance, air traffic controller, air defence and the like.
Now, the government has allowed women officers to get permanent commission in a few avenues like the legal, education and naval constructor wings. They, of course, are not allowed to serve in combat arms like infantry, artillery or armoured corps, nor serve on board operational warships or fly fighter jets.
Source: Times Of India
