On Friday,  Union Minister of Defence Nirmala Sitharaman said the government has taken a "historic" decision to induct women in the military police with an aim to enhance their representation in the armed forces.

The official handle of the defence minister tweeted that women will be inducted in a graded manner to eventually comprise 20 per cent of total Corps of Military Police,. Their role would range from probing rape and molestation cases to assisting the Army wherever required.

The handle tweeted as  "To improve the representation of women in our armed forces Smt @nsitharaman takes a historic decision to induct women for the first time in PBOR (Personnel Below Officer Rank) role in Corps of Military Police. The women will be inducted in a graded manner to eventually comprise 20% of total Corps of Military Police,".

In 2018, Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat said about the process to allow women in a combat role.While,  currently, an exclusive domain of men was moving fast and initially, women will be appointed for positions in the military police.

Women are allowed in select areas such as medical, legal, educational, signals and engineering wings of the Army. The Army chalked out induction of approximately 800 women in military police with a yearly intake of 52 personnel per year.

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The military police role includes policing cantonments and Army establishments, regulations by soldiers and maintaining movement of soldiers,  and preventing a breach of rules, as well as logistics during peace and war, handling prisoners of war and extending aid to civil police whenever required.

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