The Delhi High Court on Monday termed as “gender discrimination” the Army’s practice of having only women in its nursing branch.
Giving the Centre two months to take a decision on the issue, a Bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V.K. Rao observed that “it is gender discrimination, only the other way round”.
The Central government’s counsel sought six months to take a decision on recruiting male nurses, saying that each Army base will have to be contacted and their views taken.
But the Bench said, “We are in a digital world. Get everyone on videoconferencing and take a decision.”
It posted the case for hearing on January 21, 2019. The court’s order came on a petition filed in public interest alleging “blatant discrimination” in recruitment for the Military Nursing Service.
In its plea, the Indian Professional Nurses Association has said there are several thousand men trained and qualified as professional nurses in India and their omission from nursing corps of the Army was “unjustifiable and unconstitutional inasmuch it deprives them of an avenue of employment and professional advancement”.
The petition has challenged the provisions of the Military Nursing Service Ordinance, 1943, and the Military Nursing Service (India) Rules, 1944, to the extent they provide only for appointment of women.
It has also contended that the Ordinance and the Rules “also perpetuate the stigmatisation and ostracism of male nurses, by singling them out and making them feel unwanted”.
The Centre has placed before the court an August 2018 office order to convene a board of officers to study the feasibility of the proposal to induct male nurses in the Military Nursing Service.
