Admiral R Hari, Chief of the Naval Staff on Tuesday approached the Defence Ministry requesting to change the nomenclature of various ranks as they have women sailors as well.
He stressed the importance of having a woman chief among the ranks, after the introduction of gender neutrality, if this happens then it will have its woman chief after 30-35 years.
In an interaction with the media at the inauguration of a new administrative building of the Naval War College (NWC) at Verem in North Goa he said, “We follow all roles, all ranks. Hoping that 30-35 years down the line we will have a woman chief of naval staff speaking to you all.”
He informed that the Navy already has a woman commanding officer of a ship in Goa.
“Recently, we have got a consensus from all the people concerned and we have taken it with the ministry for approval for changing the rank nomenclature, like leading seamen, seamen class I, seamen class II, because now we have got women sailors also,” he added.
Admiral stated “Women cannot be sea-men. We are looking at naming them as nausainik class I or nausainik class II, this will be gender neutral because we have been pursuing the policies of the Government of India.”
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“We have women in the ranks for the first time since last year and within a year-and-half, we have 1,124 women sailors, they are going to board ships shortly,” Admiral Kumar stated that the concept of “nari shakti” (women power) is also being introduced in the force. Women can now serve as marine commandos, meaning that the Navy has opened up all of its branches to them.
Admiral added, “We are looking at capability, confidence, competence, and ability to deliver the task of the Navy.”
Admiral Hari further said, “The effort is to move all the old things that we have inherited, the colonial stuff, and bring in pride based upon our viraasat (heritage).”
In the hopes of disseminating advanced professional military education to the middle and senior-level officers of the Navy, a college of Naval Warfare was established in INS Karanja, Mumbai in 1988.
In 2010 it was renamed Naval War College and was shifted to Goa in 2011.
Military officers from India’s maritime neighborhood participate in and work together towards an open, safe, and inclusive Indian Ocean Region that embodies the prime minister’s vision of “SAGAR”—Security and Growth for All in the Region—in the college’s maritime security course.
The college has trained a total of 2000 defense officers and 40 foreign officers since it was established, a spokesperson from the Navy informed.
The college trains officers from all three services who later take on leadership roles.
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