New Delhi: In two significant policy reforms, the Ministry of Defence Tuesday granted permanent commission for women in the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), paving the way for promoting gender parity in the induction and service conditions of officers.
The ministry also announced a new policy to streamline the administrative procedures for granting ex gratia to the families of personnel reported missing at sea while on duty.Both policies were unveiled by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
“The first policy directive establishes a comprehensive, women-centric approach by ushering in a gender-neutral framework for the induction of officers into the ICG. The highlights of the policy include induction of women candidates into both Short Service Appointments (SSA) and Permanent Appointments (PA) at par with their male counterparts. SSA has also been opened for male candidates,” a statement by the Defence Ministry said.
The policy ensures equal opportunities for career progression, commencing right from the ab-initio training phase (entry-level instruction period given to beginners).
The existing PA women officers shall also be considered for promotion to higher positions subject to fulfilment of eligibility conditions, the Ministry said.
It added that the existing serving women officers on SSA will be provided an option to convert their service to a PA, subject to the fulfilment of stipulated conditions. “This progressive step reflects the Government’s commitment to Nari Shakti and equal opportunity in the nation’s maritime security apparatus.”
Incidentally, this came two years after the Supreme Court pulled up the ICG and the defence ministry for not allowing permanent commission to women despite changes being brought into the Army, Navy and Air Force rules following its orders.
In February 2024, the Supreme Court had criticized the government’s stance questioning why women were not given permanent commissions in the Coast Guard while they were in the Army, Navy and Air Force.
The court was unconvinced by the government’s argument about functional differences and instructed them to formulate a gender-neutral policy promptly. As a result, the Supreme Court urged the government to develop a fair and gender-neutral policy.
Addressing the Union Government, the then Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, heading a three judge bench stated: “You speak of ‘Nari Shakti’. Now show it here. You’re in the deep end of the sea. In this matter, you must come up with a policy that treats women fairly. After 2009, no woman has been inducted. Why are you being so patriarchal? You don’t want to see the face of women in the Coast Guard?”
The top court was hearing a plea filed by Coast Guard officer Priyanka Tyagi seeking the grant of permanent commission to eligible women short-service commission officers of the force.
In April that year, in another hearing on the matter, the Supreme Court told the ICG to note “the march of time” and directed that Tyagi, who was released from service in December 2023, to be reinstated as an interim measure till it decides on her plea for parity with male counterparts.
“Look at your resistance to having a single woman in the Coast Guard. This was the same resistance (first female advocate in India) Cornelia Sorabjee when she was told you are not good enough. When women came into the Army and Air Force, they were told you are not good enough. And in the Navy, they were told we do not have toilets for you. See the march of time,” the bench observed.
The order said, “As regards Army, Navy and Air Force, this court has already rendered judgments. Unfortunately, the Indian Coast Guard continues to be an outlier.”
The second policy reform announced by the Defence Minister brings relief and administrative ease to the Next of Kin (NoK) of the personnel, who go missing at sea in the line of duty.
The key highlights of the policy include the authority to declare an ICG personnel missing at sea while on duty as ‘presumed dead’ for the purpose of ex-gratia, the ministry said.
The reform significantly eases and accelerates the process for the grant of ex gratia compensation and terminal benefits to the NoK, it added.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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