New Delhi: Taking more women as permanent officers in Coast Guard is not feasible as there are not enough ships designed to accommodate women on board, the Centre told the Supreme Court in a recent affidavit even as it said that the government is committed to induct more women and seeks to introduce changes to equip them for sea service.

The affidavit filed on March 6 came in response to a petition filed by a woman navigator and Coast Guard officer Priyanka Tyagi seeking permanent absorption in the force after she was released in December last year on expiry of her short service assignment.

The combined response of the Centre and Indian Coast Guard said, “The existing infrastructure of the Coast Guard related to ships and bases need modification before female officers can be sent on seaborne missions alongside male officers.”

Talking about aspects of training and other working conditions that will also require modification, the affidavit said, “For the purpose of enlarging the strength of their entry, several operational measures are required to be undertaken. Without putting into effect such operational measures, provision for a greater number of women officers will not be feasible.”

A bench headed by chief justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud agreed to examine the affidavit and posted the matter for further consideration next week. Senior advocate Archana Pathak Dave told the Court, “Their affidavit suggests that the ships are not designed to take women on board.” Attorney General R Venkataramani rebutted by saying, “We have sufficiently explained the reasons in our affidavit.”

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Presently, out of the 66% billets (accommodations) sanctioned for manning afloat units (seaborne ships) and 33% billets sanctioned for manning shore support units, only 10% of shore billets (lodgment for officers) are being considered for women officers for permanent entry. Giving reasons why billets were not being provided to women officers on ships, the response said, “The older ships were much smaller in size and could not provide for separate accommodation and allied facilities for women officers and therefore in future, the ships and bases will be modified.”

Tyagi had told the Court that not a single woman is taken on ship duty and alleged that it was a mindset problem, which allowed only male officers to get permanent entry in the service. Denying there is any gender bias, the Centre said, “In future, the Coast Guard is considering appointing women officers for the sea billets to enhance and augment the participation of women in the service.” At present, 23 ships have been designed to cater to women’s accommodation needs on board, it added.

However, that is not enough as there are operational measures such as training format and working conditions. “Only male officers are currently trained in sea-going duties (navigation, seamanship, communication, firefighting, gunnery, etc) . The existing women training curriculum excludes afloat training…Working conditions are required to be made conducive for women officers to work on board ships before further permanent entry is provided for women officers.”

Since Coast Guard duties involve anti-smuggling, law enforcement at sea, protecting fishermen and merchant marine, ships operate in isolated areas at sea and remain away from base for prolonged duration, for around 15 days in a month. “For future induction, training of women needs to be modified so that they can be deputed for sea-going billets.”

The Centre informed the Court that a board of officers consisting of three women and two male officers of the Coast Guard recently undertook a study on the modalities needed to appoint women officers and sailors in the Coast Guard under the Agnipath scheme. This board has to recommend amendments to be made in the recruitment rules to equip them for sea service.

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“The stipulation of 10% for ashore billets for women officers will also be reviewed,” the Centre said, adding that the board is in the process of compiling its report and once it is done, the Coast Guard will forward the recommendation to the ministry of defence for further consideration.

Tyagi was appointed as Assistant Commandant in the Coast Guard in 2009 and soon after her induction, the Assistant Commandant Woman (General Duty) Short Service Recruitment Rules were published in November 2009 that mentioned “women officers shall not have the option to change over to permanent entry scheme.” Her petition seeking permanent absorption in the Coast Guard is already pending in the Delhi high court but she moved the top court against an interim HC order refusing to stay her release.

The top court had termed such exclusion of women in Coast Guard to be “patriarchal” while seeking a response. Last month, the Court observed, “The times have gone when you said women cannot be in Coast Guard. If women can guard borders, they can even guard the coasts”. It warned that the Court will step in if the Centre was not willing to give parity to women officers.

The petition relied on the past rulings by the Supreme Court paving equal opportunity for women short service commission officers in the army, navy and air force to be considered for permanent commission, and wondered why the same rule did not apply to the coast guard, also an armed force since 1978.

Tyagi was part of the first-ever all-women crew on Dornier aircraft in 2016 deployed in the eastern region for undertaking maritime patrolling as captain of the aircraft. She completed 13 months of flying training to qualify as a navigator. As on date, “the petitioner has 4,500 flying hours on Dornier aircraft, the highest flying hours as per her seniority in all the forces, including male and female, and has heroically saved over 300 lives at sea,” the petition said. At the time of her release, she was commandant (junior grade) and had even got recommendations from her superior officers for permanent absorption.