Indian Coast Guard: The ship is not designed for the convenience of women, ICG's statement in the Supreme Court

On Wednesday, on the petition of a woman officer demanding a permanent commission, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) told the Supreme Court that many changes are yet to be made in the infrastructure of ships to send women officers on sea operations. ICG is primarily a maritime service, hence allocates 66 per cent of its billets (temporary accommodation) to floating units, leaving 33 per cent of billets for shore units. Since the tenure of officers gets longer due to fewer vacancies, only 10 per cent of the billets were considered for women officers.

The ships were not built with facilities or separate quarters for women. ICG will approach these problems piecemeal. This includes making infrastructural improvements to make room for female officers. The ships will be built with female-only accommodations.

Prior to this, during the petition hearing, CJI D.Y. Chandrachud's bench had asked the ICG for a response regarding the refusal to grant permanent commissions to women. But in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling, women have begun to receive permanent commissions in the Army, Navy, and Air Force, among other armed forces. Additionally, the CJI informed the Attorney General that the current generation of women cannot be denied equal opportunities on the basis of arguments such as functional discrimination.

The petitioner woman officer was appointed as Assistant Commandant in 2009. He was promoted to Deputy Commandant in 2015 and Commandant in 2021. He had requested for permanent commission from the commanding officers in 2021. A year later, her request letter was returned without action because the Defense Ministry's letter dated February 25, 2019, regarding the permanent inclusion of women officers did not apply to the ICG. He raised this matter in the High Court, but the court refused to grant relief. After this, he approached the Supreme Court.