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Women must consider armed forces as career: President
Lauding the achievements of women armed forces officers, the President emphasised women in the country to take inspiration from the illustrious career of Lt Gen Punita Arora, the first Three Star Rank woman Army General of India, and Air Marshal Padma Bandopadhyay, the first woman to be promoted to the rank of Air Marshal in the Indian Air Force
Acknowledging their importance in the armed forces, President Droupadi Murmu urged women of the country to actively consider a career in the Indian Armed Forces. The President was addressing a gathering of Armed Forces Medical Services at the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) after awarding the President’s Colour during the function.
Lauding the achievements of women armed forces officers, the President emphasised women in the country to take inspiration from the illustrious career of Lt Gen Punita Arora, the first Three Star Rank woman Army General of India, and Air Marshal Padma Bandopadhyay, the first woman to be promoted to the rank of Air Marshal in the Indian Air Force.
“At this historic juncture, I am impressed by the cutting-edge medical services rendered by the institution. The graduates of the institutes have distinguished themselves in wars, counter-insurgency operations, natural calamities and pandemic and made the nation proud by giving dedicated service within the country and across the borders. The college has given exceptional service during the Covid pandemic. The armed forces medical services must focus on new sectors like artificial intelligence and telemedicine in the field of medicine,” she said.
President Murmu, as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, conferred the President’s Colour to AFMC, Pune on Friday at its platinum jubilee year. The handover ceremony was held at the Capt Devashish Sharma Kirti Chakra Parade Ground at AFMC. The president’s colour flag ceremony took place after an interfaith recitation of holy verses by clerics belonging to Hindu, Islam, Christian and Sikh religions.
One of the highlights of the ceremonial parade was the all-women medical officers leading the four contingents of the Armed Forces Medical Services personnel serving in the Army, Navy, and Air Force, underlining women empowerment in AFMS.
President’s Colour, also known as “Rashtrapati ka Nishaan”, is the highest honour bestowed upon any military unit.
