New Delhi, June 19: Two lady officers of the army have been promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel for the first time since women were recruited under short service commission, army headquarters sources said today.

The disclosure coincided with a damage-control bid after BJP leader Sushma Swaraj demanded action against the army vice-chief for allegedly saying that the army could do without women.

Army sources say the vice-chief, Lt General Pattabhiraman, was quoted out of context in an interview and that the experience of women in the service is positive.

The women who were promoted as lieutenant colonels earlier this year could not be immediately identified.

According to the time-scale promotion system, officers completing 13 years of service will normally get promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Women are taken into the armed forces on short service commission for a maximum of 14 years. The Women Special Entry Scheme was introduced in 1993. But women in the medical corps on permanent commission have achieved higher ranks equivalent to lieutenant general.

Army sources said that since 1992, only 10 women have resigned from service in the first five years after being commissioned. More women leave the service after the first five years. Extension of service for a further five years and again for four years is not guaranteed.

The sources said that about 28 per cent of lady officers who had completed five years of service and had got extension chose to leave in 1998. That figure has now come down to 5.5 per cent.

Panel call

The National Commission for Women today stressed the need for gender sensitisation of the forces.

“There is a need to take steps to make our forces more gender sensitive,’’ commission chairperson Girija Vyas told reporters.

She added that there was a need to take steps to deal with the issue of stress among army personnel.