NEW DELHI – The Indian Army is holding consultations for preparing a planto grant permanent commission to women in its ranks as it becomes the lastmilitary arm to give up resistance to women serving until their age ofretirement.

A senior Army officer said the government had to submit an affidavit on thepolicy changes within two weeks to the Supreme Court, and a final policywould be ready in six months. “The combat arms do not look ready for womenfor now, but time is not far away when even those will open up to women,”he said.

The officer said discussions about combat arms were increasingly about thelogistics of accommodating women in the operational areas, and not any moreabout women’s capability to serve on the frontlines.

The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that it was consideringgranting permanent commission to women officers who are in service now asShort Service Commission (SSC) officers. Those under the SSC get to serve amaximum of 14 years with multiple extensions, and have to leave servicewithout pension in their 30s.

The Air Force and the Navy shed their opposition to granting permanentcommission to women in 2010. As of now, 350 women serve both the forces aspermanent commissioned officers, besides doctors and nurses who havehistorically served alongside male counterparts.

The Army mounted a legal challenge in the Supreme Court after the DelhiHigh Court in 2010 ordered all the three arms of the military to grantpermanent commission to women officers. Army sources said the arguments arenow boiling down to two key issues: the practical challenges in deployingwomen in active areas such as Kashmir; and the logistics requirements toaccommodate them in areas that have been built exclusively for men.