Indian navy will recruit women sailors for the first time in 2022 under the Agnipath Scheme. The change will allow them to be deployed on warships in the future.
Number of women sailor recruitment
Navy is yet to finalise the final number of women among the 3000 naval Agniveers that will be inducted in 2022. According to reports, this number may be 10-20% of the first batch which is scheduled to begin training at INS Chilka, the premier basic training establishment for Indian Navy sailors, on November 21.
“The Agnipath scheme in the Navy will be gender-neutral. As we speak, 30 women officers are sailing on board frontline warships. We have decided that the time has come to recruit women sailors as well, and in all trades which will include women who willgo to sea,” informed Vice Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi.
Accomodation arrangements are made at INS Chilka
Vice Admiral Dinesh Tripathi also conveyed that though, the exact percentage of women force has not been finalised yet, arrangements are being made at INS Chilka for accomodating them.
Currently 100 female jawans are there in CMP
Since the 1990s, women have been admitted to the 14-thousand-strong military forces, but only at the officer level. This changed in 2019-20, when the Indian Army for the first time began recruiting women in other ranks. As a result, there are now 100 female jawans in the Corps of Military Police (CMP).
Govt. plan in recruitment of female soldiers
In 2021, four women officers were deployed on warships by the Indian Navy for the first time in 23 years – two on INS Vikramaditya and two on fleet tanker INS Shakti. This number has reportedly increased to 30. Recruitment of 199 more CMP women is on hold since last two years due to COVID-19 outbreak. Government of India has plans to have 1700 women soldiers by 2036, in batches of 100 recruits per year.
