Women Can Take NDA Exam, Says Supreme Court, check out the details of this remarkable decision:
The Supreme Court said in a landmark interim order that Women can sit for the NDA (National Defence Academy) exam – scheduled next for September 5. The court slammed a “mindset problem” when it comes to equal service opportunities for men and women in the country’s armed forces, and warned the government “you better change”.
The court also said that they hope today’s order would persuade the Army to initiate that change of its own accord, rather than be forced to change because of a directive from the judiciary.
“This is a mindset problem. You (the government) better change it… don’t force us to pass orders,” the top court said, adding, “This policy decision is based on gender discrimination. We direct the respondents to take a constructive view of the matter in view of the judgement of this court.”
“The endeavour is to persuade the Army to do things itself… We would prefer if the Army did something itself, rather than us passing orders,” the top court added.
A division bench of Justice SK Kaul and Justice Hrishikesh Roy expressed displeasure over women continuing to be denied equal opportunities despite various verdicts by the top court on the matter.
The centre argued that the government’s recruitment policy was not discriminatory and that there were a wide number of ways in which women could apply.
The government told the Supreme Court that “troops are not yet mentally schooled to accept women officers in command of units” since they are “predominantly drawn from a rural background”.
The court replied: “To cast aspersions on gender is an affront to their dignity and to the country. Time has come that women officers are not adjunct to their male counterparts,” adding “Physiological features of women have no link to their rights. The mindset must change.”
The final hearing in this matter will be held on September 8.
