Scripting history, 26-year-old Priya Semwal, who lost her husband in a counter-insurgency operation two years ago, was on Saturday inducted into the technical wing of the armed force as a young officer.
From a college student married to an Army jawan in 2006 to an officer commissioned into the Corps of the Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (EME) of the Army today, Ms. Semwal’s life has come a full circle.
Ms. Semwal is one of the 62 women, besides 194 men, who were commissioned into the Indian Army as short service officers during the ceremonial passing out parade at the Officers Training Academy here.
The mother of the then four-year-old Khwahish, Ms. Semwal’s future looked bleak when she heard about the death of her husband Naik Amit Sharma in a counter-insurgency operation near Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh in 2012.
“Her husband was serving in my unit. In that operation, he lost his life while others suffered injuries. When I learnt Amit had encouraged her to complete degree and post-graduation, I thought she should become an officer,” said Colonel Arun Agarwal, Commanding Officer, 14 Rajput Regiment.
Col. Agarwal’s word of advice, however, was not received well initially by her family. “But, eventually they all agreed,” said the Colonel, who had come all the way from the border to witness Ms. Semwal become an officer. This was perhaps the first time that the wife of a Non-Commissioned Officer had become an officer, he pointed out.
