New Delhi: Welcoming Supreme Court's order granting permanent commission to women officers, Army Chief Gen M M Naravane on Thursday said that the force does not discriminate among soldiers on any ground, adding that the apex court's ruling gives a sense of clarity to move forward.
On Monday, the Supreme Court had directed that women officers in the Army be granted permanent commission and given command postings.
"Indian Army does not discriminate against any soldier based on religion, caste, creed, or even gender. The outlook of the Indian Army has been throughout like this and that is why we started inducting women officers as early as in 1993," Gen Naravane told a group of journalists.
Indian Army has taken the initiative to induct women in rank and file, and the first batch of 100 women soldiers is undergoing training at Corps of Military Police Centre and School, he said.
"The Supreme Court's decision is a welcome one as it brings out a sense of clarity and purpose to gainfully employ officers for better efficiency of the organisation. I must assure that everybody in the Indian Army including women officers will be given equal opportunity to contribute to the nation as also progress in their careers," the Army Chief added.
He also said, "We have made a roadmap and the letters are being sent to women officers asking whether they will prefer permanent commissioning." The Army Chief added that same rules will be followed for women officers too.
On the proposed creation of a theatre command exclusively for J&K, he said its in preliminary stage of discussions and there will be detailed discussions before anything is finalised.
On the proposed new Thal Sena Bhawan at Delhi Cantonment here, the Army Chief added, "The proposed Thal Sena Bhawan will bring all Army HQ offices under one roof thereby improving the working efficiency, while reducing the carbon footprint and logistics requirements. It will also allow more family time for all soldiers during peace posting at Delhi."
On Friday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will lay a foundation stone for construction of Thal Sena Bhawan.
Presently, Army Headquarters is split into eight pockets, including South Block, Sena Bhawan, Hutments Area, RK Puram, Shankar Vihar and other places.
The work was sanctioned to make up the existing deficiency of 44 per cent and also to accommodate the Army Headquarters in one place.
Thal Sena Bhawan is proposed to be constructed at Delhi Cantonment opposite Manekshaw Centre in an area of 39 acres.
The new proposed building for Thal Sena Bhawan is being conceptualized as a multistory green building adopting Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) norms.
The complex will house offices, residential area for security personnel and basic amenities.
Approx 7.5 Lakh square meter of area will be constructed to house the office complex and parking.
A total of 6014 offices will be constructed which will house offices for 1684 officers both military & civilian and 4330 sub staff.
The proposed work will generate minimum two lakh hours of skilled and unskilled work. It is proposed to be completed in five years.
