Florence Nightingales of the Indian Army

On this day in 1976, General Gertude Alice Ram became the first Major general of the Indian Armed Forces to attain a two-star rank. While much is not known about her, her achievements provide us with an opportunity to learn about the selfless service of the Military Nurses of which Alice Ram was a part.

The all women Military Nursing Service of India; Image Source: The Indian Express

The Indian Military Nursing Services (IMNS) was first set up in 1888 under British colonial rule. The only all-women corps of the Indian armed forces, the nurses by nature of its creation were required to fight in times of war and battles if the situation demanded.

The nurses valiantly fought in both World War I and World War II. Many were killed on board hospital ships, taken as Prisoner of War, and died on active service.

In 1943, the IMNS officially became a part of the Indian Army. The military nurses were granted regular commissions, and were treated at par with officers of the regular army in every respect; salutes, uniform, privileges, entitlements, retirement benefits, and accommodations.

With the Army Act of 1950, the ranks of the Military nurses were changed from Sister to Lieutenant and from Chief Principal Matron to Colonel.

On this day in 1976, Gertude Alice Ram became the first woman Major General of the Indian Army attaining a two-star rank. The ranks in the Military Nursing Services range from (lowest to highest)- lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel, Brigadier, Major General. Alice Ram was appointed as the director of the Military Nursing Services. The promotion of Alice Ram placed India in the list of countries that had promoted women to a flag rank, only behind the United States and France. This was a remarkable feat for a third-world country.

While India was quick to escalate the graph of gender equality in the Military Nursing Services of the Indian Armed Forces, it displayed stagnancy thereafter.

Traces of discrimination were however visible from 1996 in subtle ways. The weapons and arms training for the military nurses were discontinued even though as per the Act, they were still required to participate on the ground if a war was to take place. Military nurses from India have served in several conflict zones in Sudan, Congo, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka. Within the country as well, the nurses have played an integral role in Jammu and Kashmir and the North East especially. During the Kargil war, they were posted 2 kilometres from the Line of Control. In Assam and the North-East, they have been posted in counter-insurgency and disturbed areas under AFSPA.

In a petition from Lieutenant Colonel Uma Kaushik and Captain Harpreet Kaur of the MNS to the Supreme Court, the officers challenged the discriminatory practices being carried out against this noble service. In 2000, uniforms were changed from the olive green coloured shirt and pants to a safari-style beige coloured uniform. Since 2003, as per orders from Senior officers, salutes by officers of the junior rank to the MNS officers were stopped. In 2005, officers in the rank of Brigadier and Major General were stripped of the privilege to display star plates and flying flags on their official vehicles, allegedly by an order by the Chief of the Army Staff (CoAS).

The MNS has also been accused of gender discriminatory practices, the only difference being it is the other way around. Since it is an all-women corps, male nurses are not allowed to provide their services. Several petitions have been made at the courts of law to remove all kinds of inequality.

While the instance of discrimination on the basis of gender is peculiar in the case of MNS, across the other services, it is of the general type, where men are favoured over women in the armed forces. A recent example is the Parliamentary Debate of 2020 that discussed the possibility of admitting women in command roles. It was argued that women in commanding posts was not plausible since the majority of males in the rank and files hailed from a predominantly rural background and were “not yet mentally schooled to accept women in command of units.” Thankfully good judgement prevailed and the Supreme Court held otherwise. It stated that a change of mindset was required with changing times and it is only fair to give women a fighting opportunity.

The judgement delivered stated that women in the armed forces would be eligible for commanding roles and also permanent commission. In essence, it meant that a woman in the army could now rise to the ranks of colonel on the basis of merit like their male counterparts.

This was certainly a headway in the right direction but there is scope for more. While the Indian Air Force and Navy have made progress, a woman officer in the Army can still not be inducted into the combat roles such as infantry, artillery, or armoured corps.