"The Ministry of Defence is considering to give permanent commission to woman in the army to meet the shortfall of officers," Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju said in Panchkula, Chandigarh.

At the recent Army Commanders Conference in the capital, the issue of giving permanent commission to women in the legal and training branches was considered, he said.

Raju said the army had decided not to deploy women in areas where they could be exposed to danger. He said the Short Service Commission (SSC) was being made more attractive to inspire youth to join the force.

"The ministry is giving a serious thought to fill the gap (shortfall of officers)," he said. On the issue of stress among jawans, he said that "units have been directed to keep a vigil."

"Jawans, when they return from the leave period are already under stress due to domestic problems ... these get aggravated when they are deployed in field areas," he said.

The ministry has conducted various studies to look into the issue, he said.

On the rehabilitation of ex-servicemen, he said state governments and the corporate sector should hire ex-servicemen to monitor different rural schemes of the country.

On the Sixth Pay Commission, he said pay scales of officers at the entry level and at the higher level have been made attractive. However, the pay scales at the middle level were not good enough, he added.

"The committee of secretaries is looking into the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission and once they are through, the recommendations of the Commission for the forces can be reviewed," he said.

On the A V Singh Committee report on faster promotions in the army, he said its first part on speedier promotion up to the rank of Colonel has already been dealt with.