The year was 1992, and a historic scene unfolded at the Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai. As the parade ground shimmered under the morning sun, a young woman stepped forward to receive her rank, marking a new era in the Indian Army. Her name: Major Priya Jhingan. Her identity is forever etched as Lady Cadet No. 1, the first woman to join the Indian Army in a non-medical role.

Before 1992, women had served in the Armed Forces, but only as doctors and nurses. The idea of women donning the olive green uniform as officers was unheard of until Priya Jhingan, a law graduate from Himachal Pradesh, decided to change that. Determined to serve the nation, she wrote a letter to the then Army Chief, General Sunith Francis Rodrigues, requesting him to allow women into the Indian Army. The re

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