Explainer: Military Nursing Service officers are ex-servicemen again
Amendment recognises MNS personnel under re-employment rules, strengthens rehabilitation and second-career chances
The status of ‘ex-servicemen’ (ESM) has been restored for retired officers of the Military Nursing Service (MNS) after six years, entitling them to benefits at par with other veterans. It is the only all-women, all-officers branch of the defence forces that is headed by a Major General and functions under the Directorate General Armed Forces Medical Services.
On February 9, the government notified the Ex-servicemen (Re-employment in Central Civil Services and Posts) Amendment Rules 2026 to clearly include the MNS in the definition framework for ex-servicemen re-employment in the Central Civil Services.
The notification comes in the wake of a legal battle. Till 2019, MNS officers, both permanent and Short Service Commission, enjoyed the status of ex-servicemen. Ambiguity cropped up after a letter was issued by the Kendriya Sainik Board in 2019, denying them ex-servicemen status.
Judicial intervention
An MNS officer, Capt Gurpreet Kaur, had cleared the examination for the Punjab Civil Services in 2021 but her candidature was rejected on the ground that she was not an “ESM”. Aggrieved, she approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The Bench of then Acting Chief Justice Ritu Bahri and Justice Aman Chaudhary held that MNS is an “armed force of the Union” under law and that employment in Punjab would be governed by Punjab ESM Rules, which recognise all armed forces officers released on completion of terms with gratuity as ESM.
The High Court judgment was challenged in the Supreme Court by a PCS officer, Irwan Kour, a former officer of the Army Medical Corps, who submitted that MNS officers could not be treated as ESM, and if Capt Gurpreet Kaur was appointed to the PCS, her appointment may get disturbed.
The SC Bench comprising Justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Misra upheld the right of MNS officers to be treated as ex-servicemen. It also held that the MNS is an integral part of the military and cannot be denied ex-servicemen status for the purpose of re-employment.
Definition of ‘ex-servicemen’
The need to formally define the term was felt for the first time in 1965 to ensure that the benefits of the new policy of reservations flow exclusively to deserving personnel. The definition has been revised several times since.
For those released on or after October 4, 2012, an ex-serviceman means a person who has served in any rank whether as a combatant or non-combatant in the regular Army, Navy and Air Force, and who either has been retired or relieved or discharged after earning his or her pension. It also applies to those relieved on medical grounds and awarded medical or disability pension, or who has been released as a result of reduction in establishment or after completing the specific period of engagement, other than at his own request, or by way of dismissal, or discharge on account of misconduct or inefficiency.
Only those who fall within the ambit of the definition of ex-servicemen are eligible for various benefits from the Central or state governments such as job reservation, medical care, canteen facilities, financial assistance and inclusion in welfare schemes.
The long march of MNS
The Army Nursing Service was formed in 1888 with the arrival of the first batch of 10 British nurses in Bombay. In 1893, the strength increased to 52 and it was designated as Indian Army Nursing Service following the British pattern. It was renamed as Queen Alexandria Military Nursing Service (QAMNS) in 1902. Nurses were enrolled in India for the first time in 1914.
In 1926, the Indian Military Nursing Service (IMNS) was formed and in 1943, its members were accorded the status of commissioned officers. This was the first time that women were granted commissioned officer ranks.
When World War I broke out in 1914, there were less than 300 nurses in the QAMNS, but by the end of the war, this number rose to 10,400.
After Independence, the IMNS was renamed as the Military Nursing Service. In 1954, the Centre issued the Army Rules 1954, and brought MNS under the ambit too.
Defence Service Regulations, 1986, and Regulations for the Army, 1987, address the MNS as a corps/service and state that officers in the MNS are Army officers and will rank equally with male officers of the same titular rank
Recruitment into the MNS is based on selection done on an all-India basis. On passing out after a four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing course, the candidates are commissioned as Lieutenants.
Till the late 1990s, the uniform comprised a white tunic and skirt with white stockings and a white nurse’s scarf-like cap. This was changed to olive green shirt and trousers, which kicked up a controversy and the matter ended up in court. It was finally changed to its current pattern of a light brown tunic and trousers worn with a beret or peaked-cap and maroon shoulder epaulettes.
