Meet Priya Jhingan, the Indian Army’s first female officer

Until 1992, women were not allowed to join the Indian Army. This caused a fierce and determined lady, Priya Jhingan, to send a letter to the Chief of Army Staff, General Sunith Francis Rodrigues, urging him to open the gates for women. She then became the first woman to join the Indian Army as an officer.   Priya, who believes women are in no way inferior to men, is convinced they should be given an equal opportunity to serve the country. Being the daughter of a police officer, the idea of serving the country had been ingrained in her mind from childhood.

  She once said that wearing the army uniform and serving the country was her dream. Therefore, she decided to send a detailed letter to the chief of army staff requesting for opportunities for women in the army. In response to her letter, Rodrigues said women would be able to join the army within the next two years.
In 1992, there were newspaper advertisements urging women to apply to the army. With her hard work and determination, Priya was able to make a place for herself in the army and went to the Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai to take forward her dreams.
Recollecting her initial days at the academy, she spoke of how the batch of 25 women was naive enough to believe they would be given all the amenities they were used to in their everyday lives. Receiving the same physical training as male cadets, one of the embarrassing incidents Priya distinctly remembers is when they were asked to go into the same pool as the men.
Once, a jawan entered her room in a state of inebriation. Not one to get scared, she immediately lodged a complaint, leading to his being court-martialled. After one year of intensive training, she joined the service on March 6, 1993.
Priya really wished to join the infantry division of the army. However, being a law graduate, she was appointed the judge advocate general. At the time, combat positions for female officers did not exist.
One of Priya’s fondest memories from her service was when she held her first court-martial, which was presided over by a colonel. When asked about how many trials she had conducted before, she lied, saying it was her sixth because she feared being underestimated. She managed the trial so well that when she revealed the truth, she left everyone shocked.
Priya was the first woman to be appointed an officer in the Indian Army and was therefore allocated the enrolment number of 001. Her batch inspired many others to join the service.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Meet Subashini Sankaran, the Dynamic IPS Officer in Charge of Assam CM’s Security

Image
bashini Sankaran, India’s first woman IPS officer, who took charge of security for Assam’s Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonawal, in July 2016 Subashini comes from a South Indian middle class family with roots in Kumbakonam in Thanjavur District of Tamil Nadu. her father worked in the industrial safety department of a private company. none of her family member has ever worked for the police,  her mother is a home maker and her sister an entrepreneur in the USA In the 1980s her parents moved to Bombay, where she did her schooling in Thane. Subashini earned degree in sociology from St. Xaviersand M.Phil degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. Her M Phil dissertation at Jawaharlal Nehru University on women and terrorism – she studied the suicide bomber squads of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). IT helped her understand law and order within a broader political and sociological framework. While in JNU, Subashini started preparing for the UPSC exa
Read more

smita sabharwal-ias-topper-2001-biodata

Image
A Hyderabad based Bengali beauty Smita Sabharwal of 2001 batch IAS officer cleared the UPSC Exam at 23 years of age and was among the toppers’ list being All India Ranked 4th in the country. Smita Sabharwal is popularly known as “Peoples Officer”. She has become the country’s first lady IAS officer to be appointed to Chief Minister’s Office. Smita Sabharwal is the current District Collector of Karimnagar district in Andhra Pradesh. She became a collector for the first time in her career when she was posted to Karimnagar in April 2011. Smita Sabharwal have set an example before the youngsters to ensure success through hard work and devotion, and also assures to be a good human being.    Personal Life Smita Sabharwal was born in West Bengal. Her father Colonel Pranab Das served in the Defense Department and her mother Purabi Das is a housemaker Though, Smita Sabharwal never wanted to enter Civil Services till graduation, her father’s encouragement inspired her to join Civil Ser
Read more

Payal Devi, Jammu and Kashmir

Image
A Class 8 student from Jammu and Kashmir, Payal Devi lost her life in an unsuccessful bid to save her 6-year-old niece Shefali and a 14-year-old boy, Rakesh Kumar, from drowning. The incident occurred on the afternoon of 12 May, 2016, in district Ramban of Jammu & Kashmir. Due to cloud burst, all the drains were overflowing. Payal was returning from school when she saw Shefali and Rakesh being washed away in the turbulent Ladhwal nallah near her house. Sensing danger, Payal immediately jumped into the 17-20 feet deep water to save them but eventually all of them were washed away by the flash flood.
Read more