According to a report by the Hindustan Times, the women cadets have chosen the crisp crew haircuts for ease of training and to better fit into the armed forces. It must be noted that there are no such mandates for women keeping short hair in this academy.
Other training academies have their own rules for how women need to wear their hair. For example, at the Chennai-based officers' training academy, short hair is compulsory except for Sikh cadets.
In Air Force Academy at Dundigal near Hyderabad and the Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala, women have no mandates on keeping short hair.
The National Defence Academy began inducting women for the first time in July 2022. One woman had quit training due to personal reasons, HT reported. So far 18 women are at the academy.
The first batch will graduate in 2025, and move to other single-service academies for further training.
The second batch of women cadets is likely to start their training at NDA in early January.
At present, the Indian armed forces are offering a raft of opportunities to women cadets. They are being assigned central roles on a par with their male counterparts such as flying fighter planes, serving on board warships, being inducted in the personnel below officer (PBOR) cadre, and are eligible for permanent commission.
According to a Hindustan Times report, the Air Force and Navy have allowed women to join their special forces units, the Garud commando force, and Marine Commandos, respectively, to promote gender equality.
However, tanks and combat positions in the infantry are still no-go zones for women.
