The ministry of defence on Friday took to Twitter to announce that defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in a bid to improve the representation of women in India armed forces, will be inducting women for the first time in Personnel Below Officer Rank Role (PBOR) role in Corps of Military Police.
The roles for which women will be inducted include investigation of offences such as rape, molestation and theft, crowd control of refugees compromising women and children and manning the prisoners of war camps.
The ministry also said that women will soon comprise 20% of the total Corps of Military Police.
Last year, Army chief Bipin Rawat said that the Army was expected to induct 800 women. He said that the requirement could start before the end of this year.
Though the Army was criticised in the past for not recruiting women, Sitharaman has always been vocal about women’s participation in the Army.
The Indian Air Force has 13.09% of women officers, the highest among all three armed forces. "The Army has 3.80% of women officers, while the navy has 6% of women officers," said minister of state for defence Subhash Bhamre.