Committed to using gender-inclusive term instead of ‘ex-serviceman’, Centre to Punjab and Haryana HC

The officer had pointed out in her petition that while women are now an integral part of the military and are also holding command appointments after judgments to this effect by the High Courts and the Supreme Court, yet, former women personnel continued to be referred as ‘Ex-Service Man’ or ‘Ex-Service Men’ in government policies and schemes.

The petitioner had averred that this not only results in mis-gendering but also sounded outdated and promoted gender stereotypes. She had stated that she was obviously not a man, and was a woman, hence there should be no occasion to call her an “Ex-Serviceman”, using the male gender.

The petition had listed out gender-inclusive language employed by various militaries and establishments globally, including the Parliament of India and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato).

When the petition was first heard on November 23 by the division bench of then Acting Chief Justice Ritu Bahri and Justice Nidhi Gupta, the court had orally remarked to advocates representing the government and the petitioner- Additional Solicitor General Sat Pal Jain and Navdeep Singh respectively, that the issue needed urgent redressal, to which both lawyers had responded that the matter was non-adversarial and was expected to be resolved since now the court had taken cognizance.

In the response submitted to the court now, the central government has submitted that it is committed to address the matter on priority and acknowledges the evolving social landscape and importance of embracing gender-neutrality in the armed forces. It has added that it will expeditiously implement a term which reflects “not only the ethos of the Indian subcontinent but also aligns seamlessly with global inclusivity standards”.

Curated For You

4 years of delay, short 87-km stretch derails Rs 1-lakh-crore Delhi-Mumbai Expressway

Dhurandhar Box Office Collection ​D​ay 13 Update: Ranveer Singh film eyes Rs 460 cr mark in India

Bha Bha Ba Movie Review, Collection Live Updates: Dileep-Mohanlal film earns over Rs 4.5 crore despite mixed reviews