SC orders govt to allow women for November NDA exam

The Supreme Court directed the Centre to allow women candidates to appear for the November 2021 entrance exam to the National Defence Academy (NDA), saying “gender equality issues cannot be postponed”. The Centre had told the top court that a notification allowing women candidates to appear for the entrance exam to the National Defence Academy will be out by May next year.

A bench headed by Justice SK Kaul said the armed forces are the best response team to deal with emergency situations and it is hopeful that necessary arrangements will be put in place to pave the way for the induction of women in NDA without delay. The direction comes a day after the Defence Ministry informed the Supreme Court that a notification allowing women candidates to appear for the exam would be out by May next year. It said the needful should be done by the defence department in collaboration with the UPSC. “Women must be allowed to take the November 2021 exams. Cannot defer for one year. Medical standards should be tentatively notified. UPSC to issue a corrected notification for the November exam,” the Supreme Court said. “Effectively, what is being requested is that the present exam of November 21 be skipped as far as entrance of girls is concerned. We have given thought to the submissions. It will be difficult for us in this situation as the aspirations of women have risen,” the court further said.

On September 8, the government had assured the court that the induction of women into the NDA was already under consideration by the Armed Forces. On Tuesday, the Defence Ministry submitted to the Supreme Court an affidavit on induction of women into the Army, Navy and Air Force through the National Defence Academy.