Pune
The Indian Army is not yet ready to have women in combat role, but there are several other fields where they may be inducted, Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat said today.

“We are not yet ready for that as facilities have to be created within… Women also need to be prepared for that kind of hardship,” he said. “It is not easy. Let us not compare ourselves with western nations, which are more open,” said Gen Rawat.

There were plans to have women as interpreters, the Army Chief said. “Yes, we may be more open in our big cities, but our Army personnel are not coming from big cities only. They are coming from rural areas too, where the intermingling, which is expected, is still not there,” he said.

“Women officers are being inducted into all three services. But what we have to decide is whether some of them can be given permanent commission,” said Gen Rawat. The Army has taken a call that there are some aspects and fields where “we need some kind of continuity and permanency”, he said.

“In a command-oriented Army, male officers do not fit the bill everywhere. The Army needs language interpreters as military diplomacy is gaining ground.