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New Delhi: This time a new history is going to be made on Republic Day. According to the information, on January 26, 2024, only women will be seen parading on the Kartavya Path. Even in the parade, marching squad, tableaux and cultural presentations, only women will be seen. A proposal of the Ministry of Defence said that after detailed deliberations, it has been decided that there will be participation of women in Republic Day 2024.
The Defence Ministry has written a letter to the armed forces and other government departments participating in the parade. In this, it has been said that only women will be participants in the march past squad and the bands and tableaux associated with them. The letter has taken several senior military officers by surprise and created confusion. Many people believe that there are not enough women available in the army for this. The present situation is that some of the marching contingents consist only of men.
Significantly, the armed forces have taken several measures to promote gender equality, such as assigning women to command roles, preparing them for future leadership roles and inducting them into artillery regiments. According to the information, the decision to encourage the participation of women in the parade was taken during a meeting held on 7 February.
The meeting, chaired by Defence Secretary Giridhar Armane, was attended by senior representatives of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Education.
Nearly a month after the meeting, the Ministry of Defence formally issued a letter to the participating forces, ministries and departments on 1 March. The letter states that after detailed deliberations, it has been decided that the contingents (marching and bands), tableaux and other displays participating in the parade on the line of duty will have only women participants.
