Q: Tell us something about your background and your work at inMorphis?

I am a Major from the Indian Army and have served for 10 years before joining inMorphis. My journey in the army started from my school Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC), Dehradun. RIMC is an all-boys school established in 1922 and is a feeder institute to the National Defence Academy (NDA) located in Pune. As a girl-student, I was perhaps an exception to be admitted in RIMC to complete my schooling from there in 2004. However, it’s only the male-students who after completing their schooling from RIMC can appear for the competitive exam of NDA. As NDA didn’t admit girls, I did my graduation from DBS college Dehradun. Right around that time, RIMC stopped admitting girls with no excpetion at all. With my aim to be in defence forces I started my preparation to be in the Officers Training Academy (OTA) Chennai, and made throught it. I was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Indian Army in 2010 with the Electronics and Mechanical Engineering (EME) corps. I joined inMorphis in 2021 as an Operations Manager and it’s been quite an exciting journey.

Q: You are representing inMorphis in leading the initiative of the admission of girls in RIMC that has never happened before. Could you throw some light on it?


The government recently announced the opening of NDA for girls. RIMC being a feeder institute to the NDA quickly started working on admitting girls. For that, RIMC approached me to lay the groundwork for it as I was the only girl to have ever completed schooling from RIMC. inMorphis leadership understood the social importance of the initiative and took it upon the company to provide all assistance and support in expediting the admission of girls in RIMC. I visited RIMC,  conducted a significant research and discussion with the college authorities, and prepared a detailed paper to assist the administration and the old-boys fraternity for admitting girls in RIMC.

 

Q: How are you (and inMorphis) exactly driving this project?


inMorphis believes in gender equality and aims to equate the ratio of men and women employees at workplace. In addition, inMorphis strongly advocates for gender equality in all significant institutions, such as Armed Forces. With this great change we’re supporting at RIMC, women will be able to see a new dawn in Armed Forces. There is a lot of paperwork I’m involved in for laying the groundwork for this project. I recently travelled to Dehradun for an elaborate discussion with the management at RIMC. Post which I travelled to Delhi for a de-brief to the army senior hierarchy. Now, I am working on a detailed procedure and SOP for the admission of girls in RIMC who will be joining next year.

Q: What are the challenges you are facing? Also, tell us about the milestones you’ve achieved so far.


The most challenging aspect was to bring a change in the mindset of the old boys of RMIC (Rimcollians). As it has been an all-boys school for the last 100 yrs of its existence, resistance was visible during the talk. Once the decision came for NDA, there was no turning back. The second challenge is a tight deadline to finish the groundwork as the girls appeared in December 2021 entrance exam. All the preparations need to be completed before the results come out, and joining instructions be sent to the girls. As of now, the plans are prepared and the work has started on the ground based on my recommendations in the paper. Soon, girls will be inducted in RIMC and the details given out in my paper will assist in their smooth induction and assimilation.

Q: This is not just an initiative, but a great movement of change by inMorphis. On what scale do you believe this will empower women and impact their lives?

This will go a long way in empowering women and society as a whole. Opening up a prestigious institute like RIMC for girls will provide them with access to state-of-the-art facilities at the college and will help them build their personalities and confidence. Girls passing out of RIMC will not only join the NDA to enter the armed forces but will also get an opportunity to be a part of other prestigious institutes, such as, IAS, IPS, IITs, etc. The experience and learning at RIMC will empower them to carve a niche for themselves in society.

Q: Is there a specific segment of females that will benefit from this initiative?


RIMC, on the lines of Armed Forces, does not target any specific segment of the society and believes in equality for all. This initiative will not benefit a specific segment of females but the entire female community, who were till now devoid of the opportunity to join the prestigious RIMC and NDA.

Q: Tell us about the other projects on empowering women that inMorphis has taken up or will be taking up?

We at inMorphis are lazer-focused on empowering woman internally and are always looking to make a similar impact externally as well. We will be taking up more projects that directly translates on bettering the lives of women to create a positive social impact. With my experience in the defence forces, the next project we’re closely focusing on is supporting and empowering the wives of soldiers who come from rural background.