Ambika Bhardwaj
Published On: January 18, 2022 at 14:12 IST
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court asked the Union Government to explain the reason for admitting only 19 women were to the prestigious National Defence Academy (NDA) for 2022.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, who was representing the Union was asked to explain the reason behind the limited women’s admissions by the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission). The Bench was led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul.
Further, it was ordered by the Court to record the total number of candidates, including women, who took the NDA, Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC), and Rashtriya Military School (RMS) entrance exams.
While addressing the Government, the Bench pointed out that the figure is same as it was in the 2021 test. Last year, it was stated that the intake of women candidates would be less due to infrastructure issues. Now, again the notification proposes to take the same number of female candidates in 2022.
Further, it was stated as an Ad Hoc Measure by the Bench.
It was stated by Petitioner Kush Kalra in an Additional Affidavit that the NDA exam was held on November 14, 2021 and 8,009 candidates qualified for the Service Selection Board Test. 1,002 candidates were estimated to be women while 7,007 were male candidates.
According to the Government advertisement, NDA will accept 400 Cadets in the current NDA-II 2021 intake.
As per the Petitioner, among these, 208 candidates, including ten women, will join the Army. The Navy will accept 42 candidates, including three women, while the IAF will accept 120 candidates, including six women. As a result, the total number of females to be inducted into the NDA in June 2022 is 19.