Women in Indian Armed Forces - Expanding Roles and Opportunities

• Theme: Progressive expansion of women's roles in the Indian Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard — from non-combatant medical/support streams to Permanent Commission (PC), NDA entry, combat aviation and operational command.
• Approx. 11,000 women officers now serve across the three Services (excluding medical/dental/nursing streams) — a marker of structural gender mainstreaming in national defence.
• UPSC relevance: intersects GS-I (Women empowerment, society), GS-II (SC judgments, governance) and GS-III (Internal security, defence).