Colonel Geeta Rana, a woman officer from the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME), has taken command of an independent unit in the sensitive Ladakh sector, where India and China have been locked in a border dispute for nearly three years, officials familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
Colonel Geeta Rana has taken command of an independent field workshop in a forward and remote location in eastern Ladakh, officials said, adding that the officer is the latest in a line of female officers to be selected for command positions.
More about Colonel Rana
She is from the corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers Corps (EME). Rana’s appointment comes after the army began assigning women officers to command roles outside of the medical branch for the first time in February. Around 50 of them will command units in operational areas, including forward locations, under the Northern and Eastern Commands, which are in charge of guarding India’s borders with China. Some of them have already assumed command.
Rana comes from an army family. She is the daughter of a Mahar Regiment junior commissioned officer. She attended the Officers’ Training Academy in Chennai and was commissioned into the army in 2000. During her 23-year military career, she has served in places such as Sikkim and Jammu, and Kashmir. Rana has also worked as a trainer at an EME training facility.
Women in Indian Armed Forces
The army held a special selection board to promote 108 women officers to the rank of select-grade colonel, with the goal of achieving gender parity and providing them with command assignments in select branches. The board considered 244 female lieutenant colonel for the 108 vacancies.
Captain Shiva Chouhan, the army’s first female officer, was deployed to Siachen, the world’s highest and coldest battleground, in early January. It also sent its largest contingent of 27 women peacekeepers to Sudan’s disputed region of Abyei, where they are performing security-related tasks as part of the UN Interim Security Force (UNISFA).
Also read: Meet Captain Shiva Chauhan First Women Officer Deployed At The Highest Battlefield Of Siachen
Since the early 1990s, when women were first admitted as short-service commissioned officers, the military has come a long way. Following a gender-neutral approach, the three services are now providing a slew of opportunities to female officers in order to empower them and close the gender gap.
Rana’s appointment came a day after Indian Air Force officials announced that a woman officer, Group Captain Shaliza Dhami, would be the first woman to command a frontline combat unit. She will soon take command of an air defence unit stationed in Punjab, where she will be responsible for combating aerial threats from Pakistan. According to the officials, women officers have made significant advances in the military since they were allowed to join the short-service stream more than three decades ago. The majority of the new opportunities have come their way in the last seven to eight years as a result of the armed forces’ strong push to increase women’s empowerment and tap Nari Shakti (woman power).
Also read: Meet Group Captain Shaliza Dhami 1st Woman Commanding Officer In IAF
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