The Indian Army's first woman jawan

A mother of two has become the first woman jawan in the Indian Army. Outperforming her male counterparts in physical tests, Shanti Tigga, a 35-year-old sapper, has joined the 969 Railway Engineer Regiment of the Territorial Army (TA). “Women are allowed to join the armed forces only as officers in the non-combat units. But Tigga has earned a unique distinction of being the first lady jawan in the 1.3 millionstrong defence forces,” a senior army officer said. “She performed exceedingly well in all the physical tests. She took five seconds less than her male counterparts to complete a 1.5-km run. She completed the 50-metre run in 12 seconds, which is rated as excellent,” he said. Employed with the Indian Railways as points-man at Chalsa station in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district, Tigga volunteered for the TA last year. “I joined the railways in 2005 on compensatory ground after my husband passed away. Last year I learnt about TA Railways and I volunteered for it. At that time, I was not aware that no woman had ever joined the army as a personnel below officer rank but that was hardly a deterrent,” she said. During her Recruitment Training Camp (RTC), Tigga impressed the firing instructors with her skills in handling guns and earned the top most position of marksman.