The Indian Navy is working on creating an environment for Indian women so they can work shoulder to shoulder with men on Naval warships. It is also PM Modi’s wish that women of this country have the freedom to do so.
Most of the Air Traffic Controllers are women and to let women onto Naval ships, a separate area will be allotted for them so atleast two to three women officers can be sent along on ships. Eastern Naval Command Vice-Admiral HCS Bisht stated the same during a press conference aboard INS Shakti at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam.
The living conditions aboard the ships are completely different now, so the ships need to be redesigned to suit the needs of women officers. A large number of women are already on board aircrafts and other defence wings. The Shivalik Class ships have been designed to accommodate women officers in the Indian Navy.
It is to be noted that in the Navy, the INSV Mhadei is an all women crew sailing vessel. It is a sail training boat of the Indian Navy. Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi is the first woman Skipper of Mhadei that is crewed by Lieutenants P Swathi and Pratibha Jamwal who are Air Traffic Control specialists, Vijaya Devi and Sub-Lieutenant Payal Gupta who are the education officers and the sixth member of the crew, Lieutenant B Aishwarya, who is an engineer.
