In less than a decade since the armed forces opened their doors to women on short service commission, 125 have already joined the Navy, 500 have joined the Indian Air Force (IAF) and 500 the Army. However, they have not yet been delegated frontline operations.

Though Saxena and Rajan are both `grateful' to the Air Force for giving them an `opportunity', which came `within the ambit of the base, where they were stationed,' they feel differently.

Says Saxena, who was in the first batch of women to be inducted into the Indian Air Force, ``there is no reason why women should not be allowed active participation in combat.'' But their superiors are still apprehensive: ``Combat is an arduous task but with time we may see more women in varied roles like administration in combatarms or in the rear of the unit,'' says Brigadier N Ticku, Deputy Director General, Recruiting.In fact, all three forces have adopted a gradual approach towards induction of women into combat, says Gurmeet Kanwal, Senior Fellow, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. ``This decision has nothing to do with the physical build or lack of competence among women, but more to do with psychological perceptions,'' she says adding, ``an ejected woman pilot being picked up by an enemy like Pakistan is not a very palatable thought.''

She continues, ``we joined the forces with our eyes open. The fact that we opted for the forces and not commercial flying is an indication of our seriousness, so why should we be denied the opportunity of going into combat?"

Interestingly, the cabinet committee on security approved the induction of women as short commission officers into all branches of the Navy, only last year. But Navy officials say that though they have received permission they are still cautious aboutimplementing the decision immediately on a full-fledged scale.

``Implementing this decision is not easy and to take women into combat would also require change of ship design to suit women officers and provide them with the requisite facilities on board,'' says Commodore S Nath, Director of Manpower Planning and Recruitment.

Combat at sea does not only mean fighting the enemy at shore but also dealing with the forces of nature, which could be an arduous task for women, says Nath.

The Army too has insulated women from the rigours of combat. ``Facing the vagaries of weather is not the only constraint, one also has to consider that once in combat zone one is facing a hostile enemy eye to eye,'' says Ticku.

While difficulties in combat zone are the primary reasons for the Navy and Army's hesitancy, medical reasons are what holding the induction of women into the IAF fighter stream. ``Given the monthly cycle of hormonal changes in women, it is hard to predict how they will physiologically handle forcesnear Nine `G','' former Air Chief Marshal S K Sareen had said last year.`G' force refers to the pull of gravity wherein negative Gs exert their pull when a highly manoeuverable aircraft twists, turns, climbs and flings itself around the sky at near supersonic speed. The Navy had inducted women on a seven-year short service commission in 1991 into the education branch, law cadre, logistics and as air traffic controllers. ``Women were taken in because we were not getting adequate response from men for these segments. Also, by taking in women we wanted to ensure that men concentrated on combat duties,'' says Nath.

Though the Army has had women in the Medical Corps for quite some time, women officers have been taken into the technical and non-technical streams only since 1992, simply because they were needed.

Brigadier Ticku admits to the shortage of officers and says the Army's greatest worry is that it is not attracting the right kind of men. ``We inducted women because there was a shortage of personnel andwe also wanted to improve the overall efficiency of the army by releasing men officers for more vigorous duties and the fact is that women have performed better than men.''

There was also an immense shortage of personnel in the junior level and women now constitute an important component of the support cadre, says Ticku. The non-technical staff in the Army comprises women engaged in administrative duties which involve ensuring supplies of rations, medical stores, ordinance and equipment whereas the technical staff is involved in telecom, signals and radar operations.

Women in the army have also been inducted through the special stream which delegates them duties in the intelligence, public relations and education wings. And the Air Force too has been inducting women from 1992 for carrying out administrative and technical duties.

But doesn't the Sainik Service Commission serve as a demotivator for these upcoming women officers? No, says Saxena, noting that the training imparted enriches a person andthere is always the option of extension, she adds.