Women Allowed to Take NDA Exam, Passed by SC

A triumphant judgement has finally come for all the Indian women aspiring to become a part of the Indian Defence. On Wednesday, 18th August, the Supreme Court passed an interim order allowing women to take the National Defence Academy (NDA) exam.  In this article, we share the amazing news on women taking NDA Exam.

Petition to Allow Women to Take NDA Exam

This petition focuses on the violation of articles 14, 15, 16 and 19 of the Indian Constitution by denying equal opportunity to eligible and determined women wishing to join the National Defence Academy. By disabling them from a chance to enrol, train, and develop themselves for the National Defence Academy, the fundamental rights were being totally violated.

The plea was filed by Kush Kalra regarding permission for women candidates to appear in the NDA exam. According to Kush Kalra, the women who were denied the opportunity to appear for the National Defence Academy exam reflected denial of opportunity on the basis of their gender. This led to systematic and categorical filtering out of female candidates from the opportunity to join the training institute of the Indian Armed Forces.

This inability to participate in exams is a clear hurdle for their career advancement as higher officers in the Indian forces. The plea has clearly stated that the act of respondents to exclude female candidates from appearing in the exam for the past years is based on the ground of their gender and is a complete violation of fundamental rights of equality before the law and equal protection of the law.

Check Out How to Join Indian Army After 12th? 

Court Decision

The judgement bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hrishikesh Roy passed the interim order. The court criticised the army for not allowing women candidates to take part in the NDA exam.

The court completely disregarded the policy decision of the army as it was promoting discrimination on the basis of gender. They also pointed out the regressive mindset of the military institutions. The Supreme Court mentioned “Don’t do tokenism. Why do you need the judiciary to pass orders every time,” criticising the Indian Army for not giving opportunities to women candidates.

The Centre had said before that women cannot claim violation of any fundamental right for being denied entry into the National Defence Academy since the male cadets trained there do not have any automatic advantage in future career advancement prospects over the women whose only route to enter the Army is through short service commission.

“It is further submitted that willing female candidates shall suffer irreparably if the said notification issued by Respondent No.4 (UPSC) has not stayed as the examination is to be conducted on 05.09.2021,” said the application.

The Centre in an affidavit said that the NDA is only one of the various modes of entries for recruitment in the Indian Armed Forces, pointing out that in the Army, 1470 officers are commissioned that includes 670 officers from the Indian Military Academy and NDA apart from officers training Academy we are both men and women officers are commissioned through UPSC and non-UPSC modes. Apart from this, On average, 453 officers both men and women are commissioned as short service commissioned officers through SSC(non-technical) and SSC(technical) through UPSC.

Top 10 Toughest Exams in India To Crack in 2021, Is NDA Exam One of Them?

Such path-breaking judgements are certainly in favour of the development of India. Women deserve equal cerebral opportunities in every domain. The Indian Army should not be an exception to this. The Supreme Court has clearly stated the regressive mindset behind such biased policies. We hope the upcoming days for Indian women are more liberating. For more such informative news, follow Leverage Edu on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.