Delay pregnancy for four years: IAF advise to trainee women fighter jet pilots

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Mar 11, 2016: India’s to-be first women fighter jet pilots have reportedly been advised by the Indian Air Force not to get pregnant for at least four years from the day they are commissioned in June.

A report in the Hindustan Times quoted IAF vice chief Air Marshal BS Dhanoa as saying that the women trainees have been advised to put off motherhood so as not to cause disruptions in their training.

The three women are undergoing training at an IAF facility near Hyderabad.

As per the report, the women will kick-off the final leg of their combat training in June.

IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha had announced on March 8, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, that India will get its first female fighter jet pilot on June 18 this year.

“Undisturbed training is required for a minimum of five years for fighter pilots to become combat ready. That’s the practice in all major air forces. The women are about to complete one year of training,” Air Vice Marshal NK Tandon told the daily.

He, however, stressed that the women trainees have only been advised on delaying pregnancy and that there was no “no-pregnancy clause”.

The three women who are undergoing training are Bhawana Kanth, Mohana Singh and Avani Chaturvedi.

The fighter jet stream was thrown open to women in October 2015.