A first: Punjab appoints 2 women defence officers to handle ex-servicemen affairs

Two retired women officers from the Armed Forces have been appointed by Punjab’s Defence Service Welfare Department to look after veterans' affairs, marking not only a first in the department’s 52-year history, but also making the state among the first in the country to make such appointments.

Wing Commander Amanpreet Kaur has been posted as the District Defence Services Welfare Officer at Ropar with additional charge for SBS Nagar, while Lt Col Amandeep Kaur has been posted at Muktsar with additional responsibility for Mansa and Fazilka districts, sources said. The appointment of a third woman officer is in the process.

A total of 21 vacancies in the department were projected to the state government and the recruitment process was undertaken by the Punjab Public Service Commission, which short-listed 15 officers. Out of these, eight have been appointed so far.

Every district in the state is authorised a Defence Services Welfare Officer, generally of the rank of Lieutenant Colonel or equivalent, but the department had been facing a severe shortage of officers, with just four officers against the sanctioned strength of 25, including those posted at headquarters.

The rules for appointment of officers in the department were changed recently, allowing former short service commission officers also to apply, providing they are of the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and equivalent or above. This, sources said, would enable officers to join at a younger age than permanent commission officers and serve longer.

Short service commission officers can serve for up to 14 years and can attain the rank of Lieutenant Colonel after about 11 years of service. By the time they are discharged on completion of their term, they would be about 40 years old. Permanent commission officers, depending upon their rank and army, start retiring at the age of 54 years.

One issue in the appointment is that there is reservation for the posts as per rules applicable to all state government departments. The posts earmarked for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, etc cannot be filled up by general pool candidates in Punjab, which sources point out is unlike some other states where left over reserved vacancies are filled by general candidates.