Not the First Lady Jawan

Earlier this month, 35-year-old Shanti Tigga from Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal was reported to be the first woman to become a soldier in the Indian Army.

Earlier this month, 35-year-old Shanti Tigga from Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal was reported to be the first woman to become a soldier in the Indian Army. Top English dailies carried a photo of Tigga training with jawans in Army fatigues. Well, it was not true. At least technically, according to both the Indian Railways, which employs Tigga, and the Indian Army.

“She is not a soldier of the Indian Army. She’s employed with the Indian Railways and was training with soldiers when that photo was taken,” says a railway official who deputed Tigga for the training. According to the Indian Army, Sapper Shanti Tigga is the first woman to train for combat as part of the Railway Engineer Regiment. Tigga “is a pointsman in the Indian Railways and posted at Chalsa Railway Station in her civil profession”, says Veerendra Singh, a spokesperson of the Indian Army.

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Arindam Mukherjee