Indian Navy To Adopt Gender-Neutral Ranks After Opening Doors To Women

After inducting women into various ranks of the Indian Navy, the defence force is now adopting gender-neutral terms. The Navy has completed reviewing the ranks held by sailors and inherited from the British era to replace them with Indianised ranks along with choosing gender-neutral terms of the same. Officials aware of the matter on Sunday said that the terms would be announced shortly. More than 65,000 sailors will now get new ranks.

Seven ranks of the personnel below officer rank (PBOR) cadre in the Navy will be changed and given Indian names and three of these, which are not gender-neutral, will also have fresh names. These posts opened their doors to women cadres earlier this year. However, officers' ranks would stay as they were. 

The induction of women into the Navy has primarily initiated the need to change these names to gender-neutral terms. 

“Indianising ranks for the PBOR cadre was on our to-do list,” an official was quoted by Hindustan Times. The report by HT further added, “The existing terms are an embodiment of British traditions. Also, gender-neutral ranks are a must to make the service environment inclusive. The new designations have been sent to the defence ministry for approval, which is expected soon.”

According to data quoted by HT, the first batch of Agniveers, including around 270 women from Odisha joined the Navy service in March.