Lt. Meera, First Badaga Lady Naval Officer

Lieutenant Meera, First Badaga Lady to have become a Naval Officer.

(Wing Commander Bellie Jayaprakash, Air Veteran, first Badaga to have joined Indian Air Force as an Officer in 1972)

I have been mentioning that there is a great opportunity for young Badaga women (as well as men) to join the Indian Armed Forces as officers. With a handsome salary, a safe future, excellent chance to serve the country, it should be the first choice as a job. There are many branches/streams in the three Military Services, including FLYING.

It was a great pleasure to meet Meera from Achanekal, Kethi, the First Badaga Lady to have joined Indian Navy as an officer in 2022. This smart young lady, who is on a short leave, had dropped in at my place and shared some of her thoughts. Daughter of Ravindranath and Malathi, Meera, did her schooling in various Kendra Vidyalayas around the country, since her dad was in the Armed Forces Medical Core (AMC). She did her graduation in Engineering from Hindustan Engineering College, Coimbatore. She worked in a private concern for three years, before deciding to join the Armed forces.

After passing the Combined Defence Services Examination and appearing in SSB (Services Selection Board) Calcutta, Meera was selected to undergo training at Officers Training Course at Naval Academy, Ezhimala, Kerala, in 2022.

Now, she is promoted as a Lieutenant and posted in AP. Surely she will get many more promotions and achieve laurels in her career in Navy. Being an inspiration, Meera is about to tie up the knot in blissful marriage with another Badaga Naval Officer.

We are proud of Meera and wish her the very best.

(Those young Badaga girls who wish to join the Indian Armed Forces may contact her at meeraraveendar08@gmail.com)

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R.Meera, the first woman Naval Officer from Badaga Community, with her parents (DC)

B.Ravichandran wrote in Deccan Chronicle (30 may 2022) : R. Meera, hailing from Achanakal village near here, has become the first woman naval officer from Badagas, the single largest ethnic community in the Nilgiris. The villagers celebrated her rare achievement when she arrived at her native village on Sunday. Meera’s father M. Ravindranath alias Sundar has worked in the army hospital wing as a technical assistant. Meera, who started her education at the Kendra Vidyalaya in Aruvankadu near here, went on to study in the Kendra Vidyalayas at Pune, Delhi and Jammu before joining engineering at Hindustan Engineering College, Coimbatore. After completing her BE, her ambition for a career in the Indian armed forces made her take the Combined Defence Services examination. After clearing the examination, she also sailed through the interview at the staff selection board and was selected to join the Indian Navy. After completing 22 weeks of training, she passed out of the Indian Naval Academy in Ezhimala, Kerala, to become a sub-lieutenant to join duty in the naval armament inspectorate cadre in Kochi. She has thus become the first woman naval officer from the Badaga community. Meera said her life with her parents in north India helped her learn Hindi well and the army environment in which she lived gave her the confidence to try her luck in the armed forces. “Now, I feel proud. There are ample job opportunities for women in the armed forces. Women need to develop confidence and courage to take up a career in the armed forces and serve the nation. To be in the defence services itself is a special pride. They should also develop a strong will to achieve their goals,’’ she added. (https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/in-other-news/300522/meera-first-badaga-woman-to-become-naval-officer.html)