Six women officers of EME rode from Bhopal to Secunderabad to inspire young girls to join the Army

On November 29, six women officers set off on a 1700 km-long expedition across the India to commemorate the Platinum Jubilee and the 10th Corps Reunion Celebrations of the Corps of Electronic and Mechanical (EME) , from Bhopal. Spreading the message of women empowerment, the group traversed through the hinterlands of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra before reaching the end point of their journey in . The officers, namely Lieutenant Colonel Manmeet Kaur, Major RK Nirban, Major Gazelle Sareen, Major Deepthi Bhatt, Lieutenant KU Roji and Lieutenant Priya Kashyap, made pit stops at Mhow, Vadodara, Mumbai, Pune and Solapur to promote ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign and also urged young girls to join the Indian Army.

“This expedition has been an extraordinary experience. As a team, we all motivated each other a lot. We spread awareness about women empowerment and also met army veterans on our way. The ex-servicemen urged us to take up some of their issues with the concerned authorities. The girls, especially those in Pune University, were very enthusiastic about joining the Indian Army and told us they need a girls-only Sainik School in the city. We assured them that we will do everything we can,” said Lt Col Manmeet Kaur, the leader of the expedition.

The objective of the ride was to change the society’s outlook towards women in uniform. “Our society is yet to warm up to the idea of women working in the defence forces. This expedition proves to the people that we too can don the army uniform and do everything that is asked of us; just like our male counterparts. What everyone needs to understand is that we, the women, are also made to go through the same grind like the men before being inducted into the armed forces,” explained Major RK Nirban, who comes from a family of army officers.

For Major Gazelle Sareen the week-long expedition provided an excellent opportunity to learn about various Indian cultures. “We experienced a lot of different cultures while passing through these four states. We truly experienced our country’s diversity first hand and that was incredible,” she says signing off.