The Indian government has announced that recruitment for the Army Dental Corps (ADC) will now be gender-neutral. This means there will no longer be separate quotas for men and women. The decision was made after the Supreme Court expressed concern about the previous policy, which only allowed 10% of vacancies to be filled by women. The court called this “putting the clock in reverse direction”. The new system will apply to all future recruitment.
The announcement was made by Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj on May 8. He informed the court that the government had decided to do away with separate quotas and that all future recruitment would be gender-neutral. The court recorded this submission and disposed of a plea filed by women dental doctors led by Gopika Nair. The court confirmed that the petitioners’ grievance had been satisfied.
According to Nataraj, three female candidates have been selected for the ADC out of a list of 27 people. They will be appointed based on their position in the select list. Three more male candidates will also be accommodated since there are other vacancies available.
Previously, the Supreme Court had criticized the government for setting aside only 10% of seats for women in the ADC. The court felt this policy deprived highly meritorious female candidates from participating in the selection process.
