Can pregnant docs join Army? HC to decide

Indian Military Veterans

Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 5
A unique case has come up before the Punjab and Haryana High Court whether the Army can debar a woman who is already pregnant from joining the Army Medical Corps (AMC) when there is no restriction on conceiving a child even a day after joining the service.

The issue assumes significance because qualified doctors joining the AMC as short service commissioned officers are eligible till the age of 45 years, need not be unmarried. On induction they are not obliged to undergo military training immediately, but can undergo a three-month training capsule within two years.

In her petition before the High court that came up for hearing today, a 39-year old woman doctor said married women till the age of 45 are eligible for short service commission in the AMC for which she was selected and declared medically fit and asked to report for duty to a hospital in February.

However, since she was carrying a child when she reported for duty, which she herself disclosed, the hospital administration after seeking clarification from higher authorities refused to let her join on the grounds that pregnancy amounted to deterioration of health.

She has contended that since short service AMC officers are initially simply posted to a military hospital and can attend a basic military course much later, conception of a child made no practical difference. She has also pointed out that the government has no objection on conceiving of a child even a day after reporting for duty but had a problem only since she conceived a child before reporting for duty.

The petition also states that since married women are eligible to apply, pregnancy, being an incidence of womanhood, could not be made a disqualification unless it involved strenuous training in a service academy.

It is also stated that reproductive process of a woman could not be held mortgage to the duration of the selection process and the right to have a child could not be shackled by the chance-based or fortuitous length of the process of such selection.