In a step towards inducting women into the Army’s non-commissioned ranks, Indian Army has recruited the first-ever batch of women sepoys into the Corps of Military Police (CMP).
According to the official statement, 99 women have already started their 61-week training on 6 January at the Corps of Military Police Centre and School in Bengaluru.
Officials of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said a total of 1,700 women military police will be inducted over a period of 17 years.
Post training, these women recruits will perform tasks similar to their male counterparts. Apart from the basic military training, these recruits will undergo specialised training to serve in the Corps of Army Police.
Women cadets undergoing training in Bengaluru.
(Photo Courtesy: Indian Army)
The Military Police is responsible for policing and maintaining law and order in the Cantonments and other Army establishments. During time of war, they handle Prisoners of War (POW), as per their training. According Army officials, since the Military Police conducts investigations into the incidents of crime, these recruits will be crucial in probing gender-specific crimes.
Inputs from the Officers’ Training Academies in Chennai and Gwalior, where the women officers are trained, were taken so as to create infrastructure suitable for accommodating women recruits in Bengaluru’s training centre.
The Army plans to induct women in phases and will eventually have them be 20 percent of the total strength of the Corps of Military Police.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)