In a written reply, Defence Minister A K Antony tabled a report on number of women who have joined the Army, Navy and IAF since 2010.
"Women are recruited in the armed forces within the overall authorised strength of the officers' cadre. There is no specified sanctioned strength for women officers," he told the House.
While the Army inducted 343 female officers since 2010, the Navy and theIAF enrolled 129 and 309 women, respectively. This excludes the women officers who joined the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS).
On whether the government proposes to induct women in combat roles, he said, "Induction of women in combat duties has not been recommended by the studies carried out by Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS) in 2006 and High Level Tri-Services Committee in 2011."
For allowing Permanent Commission (PC) to women in some select branches of the armed forces, the Defence Ministry has laid down a framework after considering a comprehensive policy paper prepared by the armed forces in November last year. (More)
