The Wing Commander Pooja Thakur, who was the lead Guard of Honor when US President Barak Obama visited India last year had become one of the most famous faces of Indian Air Force (IAF). She was the first woman officer to lead such a tri-services Guard of Honor. But this time, she is in the news for different reasons. She had sued IAF and dragged them into Armed Forces Tribunal after she is being denied the full-service permanent commission. Her take on the issue is that the IAF’s decision to deny her permanent commission is “biased, discriminatory, arbitrary and unreasonable”.
The Air Force is asked to respond to the matter in 4 weeks. Pooja Thakur’s lawyer said that it is nowhere related to the gender issue but a regular procedural one. “IAF says Pooja Thakur was offered a permanent commission in 2012, she declined it then and it can be offered only once. No new offer can be given,” said her lawyer, retired Major S Pandey.
She is the daughter of an Army Colonel based in Rajasthan and joined Air Force in 2000. Mr. Obama was so impressed with her personality that later at an event he said that the sight of “incredible” Indian women in the armed forces was one of his “favorite things” in India.
It was recently last month only when Air Force took its first batch of women fighter pilots, but as short service commission officers, which states that they will serve for a maximum of 14 years and even won’t get retirement benefits. Whereas, permanent commission means that the women officers will get a chance to rise to the rank of Lieutenant General and retire at 60 with full benefits. The sources confirmed that Pooja Thakur is an Administrative Officer and the criteria of permanent commission differ from branch to branch.
Air Force only started granting the full officers status to the women officers after a ruling of High Court in favor of 50 women officers including 22 from the IAF. Due to this judgment, more than 250 women officers were granted permanent commission.
