WHY COMMISSIONED RANK IS MANDATORY?

The women officers serving in the MNS are required to work, in the male dominated world of the Army and the sister services. There are around 6000 Doctors in the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS), against around 4000 Nurses. The Planning Commission (now NITI Aayog) recommended Doctor to Nurse Ratio as 1: 3; whereas in the Armed Forces, it is only 1: 0.67. The huge shortfall in the Nurses is partly made up by the extended duty hours of the women officers in the MNS. The Medical Services also employs around 23000 Nursing Assistant tradesmen of the Army Medical Corps in the patient care, under the direct supervision of officers of MNS to make up the shortfall.

The women officers of MNS are also routinely required to lead a team of male personnel consisting of ambulance assistants, nursing assistants, nursing technicians, emergency care and trauma technicians, housekeeping staff and civilian staff who are placed under them. She handles combatant male patients like Officers, Junior Commissioned Officers and other ranks from all services including Para Military forces in insurgency prone areas, in her day to day patient care. Some of the women officers of MNS perform instructional duties in the training centres for the male nursing assistants, teaching them the basic nursing skills. All these different roles, they have performed in the extremely hierarchical, rank, status and class conscious environment of the Army with the strength of their commissioned ranks.

Further once the outwardly symbols of Army Officers Ranks is removed from their shoulders, some of those women will be sitting ducks for sexual assaults. When her own safety, honour and dignity are under threat, the women serving in the MNS will be only fighting for her own day to day survival. The authorities in the past have been successful in suppressing the cases of atrocities committed against the women officers serving in the MNS. Hence not many cases came to light outside the Army and so many such cases are going unreported.

The Government over the years had made many positive changes in the conditions of service of women officers serving in other branches, like granting of permanent commission etc. However, those women who chose to serve in the MNS, have been discriminated clearly due to the prejudices or stigma attached to her job. The near mutiny happened in the Air Force in the wake of the 5th Pay Commission report in 1997 was another such incident born out of such discrimination.

But here the victims are hapless women, so no violent protests will ever happen. But her pride, dignity and honour will be dead, the moment the rank is removed from her shoulders. How far the Army will be able to push her to do her job in a two front war; which may breakout in the future over the Arunachal Pradesh in the East and the Kashmir in the West? But with her honour and pride intact she will be more than willing to fight alongside the men if the need be; like during the fall of the Singapore in the Second World War. The Government should not give in to the demands of these mischievous elements that are furthering the interests of our enemies by weakening the Medical Services.

Most of the countries after the Second World War have made changes to the Nursing Services of their Army by making the Nurses commissioned officers of the regular Army. They all have Army Officer Nurses for the same reason, that their soldiers can go to war with the firm belief that if they get injured these women will do everything in their powers to care them back to good health. For that, she has to have the necessary resources including personnel like ambulance assistants, nursing assistants, nursing technicians, emergency care and trauma technicians, housekeeping staff and civilian staff under her command. In the Army, only the commissioned officers rank vests that kind of authority on her. When so many countries including some of the smallest ones like Bhutan and Nepal also made their Nurses in the Army, the regularly commissioned officers of the Army, but we are trying to set the clock back. 

Our country routinely trains the Army Officer Nurses from Afghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal, etc. in the Nursing Colleges in the Army. One thing which is common from the Middle Eastern country like Yemen or a South East Asian country like Thailand or a Western country like USA is the existence of commissioned officer nurses in their Army. This includes our neighbours Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and western countries like Australia, Canada, France, Germany, UK, USA etc. Some of them like USA and UK got separate branches for Army, Navy and Air Force. So many countries could not have gone wrong in their judgement by granting commissioned officer rank to the Nurses in their Armies; but why our authorities are blinded to such facts?