SC asks the Centre to allow women to NDA exam | Fusion - WeRIndia

Women in the country are not allowed to appear for the National Defence Academy (NDA) exam. In this context, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court arguing that barring women from the NDA was unconstitutional and discriminatory.

The apex court issued an interim order on this matter earlier. When the court asked for the response of the government, it said that women would be allowed for this exam soon as Armed Forces were mulling over the process.

In this regard, the centre requested the court to give some time for establishing medical and physical fitness standards for the women. It also said that there were no parallel standards for women; hence, the government has to formulate them. It takes some time.

The Ministry of Defence also submitted the court an affidavit saying that time is required to make necessary arrangements and changes for allowing women to appear for the exam.  So, women candidates will be allowed to appear for the NDA exams in May next year. Those who appear for these exams in May 2022 will be given admissions in January 2023.

This year, the NDA exam will be held in November. Since sufficient time is not there for formulating new standards for women candidates who appear for this exam, it is difficult to allow them this year.

But, the Supreme Court denied the request of the central government. It said that it could not vacate its interim order issued in the past on this matter.

It asked the government to allow women to appear for the NDA exam this year itself.

The court asked the government to allow women to use their right to appear for the exam immediately but not make them wait till next year.

Hence, the court asked the Defence Department to initiate the necessary process in association with the Union Public Service Commission.

Image Credit: Krishna Chaitanya Velaga / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Image Reference: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Indian_Army_Aviation_Corps_and_Air_Defence_Arty_Joint_Display_Ex_2.jpg