Sapper Shanti Tigga, a 35 year old single mother of two becomes the first woman jawan on 3 October, 2011. She joined the 969 Railway Engineer Regiment of Territorial Army (TA).
Previously, Shanti was working with the Indian Railways as points-man. She was posted in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district at Chalsa Station. She volunteered for the TA in 2010.
Shanti dreamt of joining the army, wear the olive green uniform and fire guns were fulfilled.
"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 million strong defence forces," a senior army officer said.
Woman were only recruited in the joined the army as officers in the non-combat units. However, that could hardly deter Shanti’s perseverance.
Shanti out performed her male counterparts in the physical tests. "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 meter run in 12 seconds which is rated as excellent," the officier continued.
During her Recruitment Training Camp (RTC), she was the top marksman and her overall performance resulted in her being adjudged as the best trainee.
