The ITBP appoints its first female combat officers

12 Aug 2021 The ITBP appoints its first female combat officers

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The ITBP appoints its first female combat officers
Context:

After completing training, the India-China LAC guarding the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) unit commissioned its first two women officers in combat
Following a passing out parade, a total of 53 officers graduated from the ITBP officers’ training academy at Mussoorie
Dhami and Mr. Deswal placed the two female officers in the ranks of Assistant Commandant, the paramilitary’s entry-level officer position.

About:
Female in combat Role:

The ITBP began hiring female combat officers in its cadre in 2016 after the Union Public Service Commission held an all-India test (UPSC).
Previously, the constabulary exclusively had combat women in its ranks.
Of the entire 53 officers, 42 are in the general duty combat cadre and 11 are in the engineering cadre of the mountain warfare trained force’s 90,000-strong force.
These officers would now be stationed across the country’s ITBP units, including the LAC with China and the anti-Naxal operations theatre in Chhattisgarh.

The following were some of the main arguments against women serving on the front lines:

The army’s junior commissioned officers (JCOs) and other ranks, the majority of whom are from rural India, are not yet ready to accept a woman as their commander in war.
Beyond the SSC, women serving on permanent commissions may face hostile settings, as well as the particular nature of responsibilities and organisational requirements.
The danger and anguish that comes with it, as well as the risk of becoming a prisoner of war
Concerns about pregnancy, the capacity to tolerate G-force, and the dread of molestation, particularly in PoW.

These justifications seem illogical and reflect a patriarchal worldview because:

Gender vs. rank: orders are associated with a system’s rank or position, whether it be the court, administration, legislative, or military. And it has nothing to do with the individual’s gender. India would never have had a successful female prime minister or president if this had been the case.
Ability vs. gender: Gender is irrelevant as long as a person is competent for a position.
Women officers in various corps are given tasks comparable to those of men officers without discrimination, to all available field units with men officers, throughout the 14-year short service commission tenure they presently enjoy. As a result, the permanent commission’s specific criteria stink of gender discrimination.
Gender and technology: Technical competence and decision-making abilities are progressively more useful than sheer power in today’s high-tech warfare.
Other countries, such as Canada, Israel, and New Zealand, have made women equal in the military.
The Delhi High Court ruled in favour of women being appointed in 2010.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP):

ITBP is one of India’s five Central Armed Police Forces.
In the aftermath of the 1962 Sino-Indian War, it was established on October 24, 1962, under the CRPF Act.
After Parliament passed the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force Act in 1992, it was given complete autonomy.
It is under the control of the Union Home Ministry.
Shaurya-Dridhata-Karm Nishtha (English: Valour-Steadfastness and Commitment) is the organization’s slogan.
ITBP is a powerful Central Armed Police Force with 90,000 soldiers.
It largely protects the 3,488-kilometer Indo-China border that runs across Tibet Autonomous Region from Ladakh’s Karakoram Pass to Arunachal Pradesh’s Jachep La.
In addition to disaster management, civil medical camps, nuclear, biological, and chemical calamities, and UN peacekeeping deployments across the world, the ITBP force is involved in a range of internal security duties.

Source: The Hindu
Syllabus: GS 1 (Society)

Yojna IAS Current Affairs Team