New Delhi, January 18: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday announced to induct women in the Personnel Below Officer Rank (PBOR) of the military police corps for the first time ever. Terming the decision 'historic', Nirmala Sitharaman said induction of women in the military police will enhance their representation in the armed forces.

"To improve representation of women in our armed forces Smt @nsitharaman takes a historic decision to induct women for the first time in PBOR (Personnel Below Officer Rank) role in Corps of Military Police (sic)," the official Twitter handle of the defence minister tweeted. "The women will be inducted in graded manner to eventually comprise 20% of total Corps of Military Police," it added. Indian Army is Conservative, Can't Allow Homosexuals: General Bipin Rawat.

Their responsibilities would range from probing rape and molestation cases to assisting the Army wherever required. Currently, women are allowed in only non-combat areas such as medical, legal, educational, signals and engineering wings of the Army. Last year, Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat said the process to allow women in combat role, currently, an exclusive domain of men, was moving fast and initially women will be recruited for positions in the military police. Indian Army Working as Peacekeepers in Jammu And Kashmir: General Bipin Rawat.

Accordingly, the Army chalked out induction of approximately 800 women in military police with a yearly intake of 52 personnel per year. At present, the Army has 3.80 per cent of its workforce as women, the Air Force has 13.09 per cent and the Navy six per cent, Minister of State in the Defence Ministry Subhash Bhamre said earlier this month.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 18, 2019 08:38 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).