Maharashtra: Just an exam between 100 women and soldier’s duty

PUNE: A written exam is all that needs to be cleared by a hundred women, mostly from rural Maharashtra, to achieve their dreams of joining the Indian Army.
They had attended the first women’s recruitment rally for soldiers on general duty conducted by the zonal recruiting office of Southern Command at Army Institute of Physical Training in Hadapsar. The three-day rally ended on Friday.
“These women have cleared the mandatory physical and medical tests.Now, they are eligible for the common entrance examination (CEE), the last stage, before joining, which is scheduled in February. The first 100 candidates will be selected for training that will be conducted at Corps of Military Police training centre and school in Bengaluru,” a senior army officer said on the condition of anonymity.
Most of the selected women have a sports background, and have played at state and national level events.
“This helped them outperform their competitors easily during the ground events. It was a massive success as we got the right candidates from the rally. They met the required physical fitness,” the officer added.
Although the army had shortlisted 1,000 candidates, based on the 85% cut-off in the SSC examination, only 350 women actually participated in the rally, army sources said.
“Most candidates were from Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, Pune, Ahmednagar and Beed. Less than 10 women from Gujarat participated. Many candidates may have refrained from participating due to the Covid-19 situation,” another army officer said.
Those who qualified were happy about the recruitment. “We got proper guidance during and after the rally. The officers and staff encouraged us and explained the process in detail. This gave us clarity,” an aspirant from Satara, who didn’t wish to be named, said.
Another woman said the army had appointed female staff to assist them in all the stages. “We didn’t face any administrative issue anywhere during the rally,” another woman who qualified said.