Hats off, bowing down; Capt Kalpana Khandu takes high-altitude patrol providing medical cover in Arunachal Pradesh

New Delhi, June 23: Once a soldier, always a soldier! Inspiring millions, signifying courage and emancipating the zeal to overcome all odds, this woman in uniform has shackled all stereotypes. A young woman officer with the Indian Army, Captain Kalpana Kundu, undertook a rare high-altitude patrol in the Himalayas in Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday. Accompanied by her team, medical officer Captain Khandu headed on a crucial patrol in inhospitable and treacherous terrain to provide medical cover to her colleagues deployed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

 

In a tweet added by the Easter Commando of Indian Army, it said, “Capt Kalpana Kundu, a young Medical Officer of the Indian Army undertook an arduous high-altitude Patrol in the mighty Himalayas in Arunachal Pradesh on 20 June 2019.”

 

It further added, “In this rare feat she volunteered and accompanied an important patrol in an inhospitable terrain to provide medical cover to her brethren deployed along the Line of Actual Control.”

Leading a true example, Captain Khandu’s rightly displays the strength of breaking boundaries, where women make up just 3.80 per cent of the Indian Army's workforce.

Breaking all odds, creating a difference the Indian Army as of July 2017, had 1,548 (excluding Medical, Dental and Nursing) women officers, according to figures provided by the Ministry of Defence in Parliament in 2018. Later, as on January 1, 2018, the strength of women officers in Armed Forces Medical Services increased to 3,730.

January 2019 marked a new chapter for women in the Army, after former Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman took a "historic" decision to induct women in the military police. The official handle of Defence Ministry tweeted, “To improve representation of women in our armed forces Smt@nsitharaman takes a historic decision to induct women for the first time in PBOR (Personnel Below Officer Rank) role in Corps of Military Police. The women will be inducted in graded manner to eventually comprise 20% of total Corps of Military Police.” The formal recruitment process for it was kicked off in April 2019.

The Indian Air Force in July last year inducted three women, Mohana Singh, Avani Chaturvedi and Bhawana Kanth as the first female fighter pilots. The Indian Navy has also offered permanent commission to women officers. In 2016, it started with a modest group of seven and vowed to expand the numbers.