List of The First Woman In Indian Armed Forces (2023 Update)

Last Updated: 6 April 2023

“Male who was born to a Female and doesn’t respect a female has no right to live in this world”

Women in the military or various other posts in the Indian Arm Forces have been an honor to the country’s people. Several revolutions in India are successful with a woman’s active support.

All wings of the Indian Armed Forces permit Females in combat supervisory roles (officers) and combat roles (junior ranks).

Besides the Indian Army, they allow support roles only, and the Special Forces of India enables trainer roles to only w.r.t 2017 ( may have changed in the future).

If we talk about recruitment Indian Air Force had 8.5% women in 2014 and 13.09% women in 2018. Likewise, the Indian Navy had 2.8% women in 2014 and 6% women in 2018; the Indian Army had 3% women in 2014 and 3.80% women in 2014.

This Analytics shows that Indian Women have been taking more part in recent years. Read the List Of The First Woman In Indian Arm Forces to know about them.

Excluding the Indian Air Force, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Army, women also join in other fields like

Special Forces of India (paratroopers wings)
Indian Coast Guard
Assam Rifles

Special Frontier Force
Central Reserve Police Force
Central Industrial Security Force

Border Security Force
Sashastra Seema Bal
Indo-Tibetan Border Police

National Security Guard
Special Protection Group
Railway Protection Force

National Disaster Response Force

List Of The First Woman In Indian Arm Forces

No.	Role	Name
1	First Woman Air Marshal of Indian Air Force (IAF)	Padma Bandopadhyay
2	First Woman Lieutenant General of Indian Army (LG)	Punita Arora
3	First Indian Woman to Fly Solo in the Indian Air Force	Harita Kaur Deol
4	First Woman Fighter Pilot	Mohana Singh
5	First Woman to Join Indian Army	Priya Jhingan
6	First Lady Vice-Admiral in the Indian Navy	Punita Arora
7	First Woman in Indian Army to receive the coveted ‘Sword of Honour’	Divya Ajith Kumar
8	First Woman Major-General in the Indian Army	Gertrude Alice Ram
9	First Woman Adjutant for India’s Republic Day Parade	Captain Tania Shergill
10	First Woman Officer in India to receive a Gallantry Award	Major Mitali Madhumita
11	First Indian Woman to fly MiG-21 Aircraft Alone	Avani Chaturvedi
12	The First Woman to Summit the Mt.Everest	Nivedita Choudhary
13	First Female in the Indian Army to Beat all her Male Co-Cadets in Physical Fitness Tests	Shanti Tigga
14	First Women Pilots to Fly into the Combat Zone During the Kargil War 1999	Gunjan Saxena and Srividya Rajan
15	First Woman Officer to Receive the Prestigious ‘Sena Medal’	Mitali Madhumita
16	First Female Operational Paratrooper in the Indian Army	Captain Ruchi Sharma
17	First Women Fighter Pilots Marking International Women’s Day on 8 March 2020	Bhawana Kanth, Avani Chaturvedi, and Mohana Singh Jitarwal
18	First Woman in the Indian Air Force, given a Permanent Commission	Wing Commander Shaliza Dhami
19	First Woman to receive the ‘Yudh Seva Medal’	Squadron Leader Minty Agarwal
20	First Woman to Attain the Rank of Commander in the Indian Navy	Dr. Barbara Ghosh
21	First Female Vice-Admiral	Dr. Punita Arora
22	First Woman Sailor From Northeast India	Lieutenant S Vijaya Devi
23	India’s First Woman Commando Trainer who is also known as “India’s Wonder Woman”	Dr. Seema Rao
24	First Woman Commandant in the Paramilitary Forces	Asha Sinha