History

[edit] First World War

The Military Nursing Service Indian Army has its origin from the Army Nursing Se
rvice formed in 1881 part of Royal Army. The force went through many changes in
its 126 years of glorious existence. In 1893, it was designated as Indian Army N
ursing Service. The force went through further changes in 1902, when the Indian
Nursing Service and the Army Nursing Service were combined and on 27th March 190
2, it was redesignated to Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service [1
]. At the outbreak of world war in 1914 there were just fewer than 300 nurses in
the QAIMNS, by the end of the war this had raised to 10,404. The Army nurses se
rved in Flanders, the Mediterranean, the Balkans, the Middle East and onboard ho
spital ships. Of the 200 plus army nurses died on active service, many were Indi
ans. After, the war on 1st October1926, the Nursing Services was granted permane
nt status in Indian Army. This date is formally recognised as the formation day
of Military Nursing Service, though in actual its origins occurred 45 five years
before (many Corps of the Army, including Army Medical Corps [2] traces its ori
gin to more than hundreds of years back in the similar way, though they were act
ually formed after independence).
[edit] Second World War
With the outbreak of second world war, nurses once again found themselves servin
g all over the world, including Singapore, Burma, Italy, Mesopotamia, Ceylon, Eg
ypt and Western Africa. The changing working conditions and wartime shortages le
d to changes in uniform. Khaki slacks and battledress blouses replaced the grey
and scarlet ward dress and rank insignia was adopted to signify the officer stat
us of the nurses. In the Far East, the fall of Hong Kong and Singapore led to ma
ny army nurses (including Indian) being captured by the Japanese and endured ter
rible hardships and deprivations of the Far East prisoner-of-war camps. During t
he middle of the war in 1943, the Indian arm of the Nursing Services was separat
ed through Indian Military Nursing Service Ordinance, 1943 and redesignated it,
there by constituting the Military Nursing Service (MNS) in its present form.
The Officers of the Military Nursing Service are governed by Indian Military Nur
sing Service Ordinance 1943 and Military Nursing Service Rules, 1944. The Sectio
n 5 of the ordinance provides that, all members of the Indian Military Nursing S
ervice shall be of commissioned rank and shall be appointed as officers of the I
ndian Military Nursing Service by the Central Government by notification in the
Official Gazette. The Nursing Service Officers are also subject to Army Act 1950
, Army Rules 1954, Defence Service Regulations and various Government Orders, Ar
my Instructions, Army Orders, issued from time to time.
The Military Nursing Service stands out as one of the oldest services where wome
n have contributed directly to the nation’s war effort by providing care to the
sick and wounded soldiers. This is also true for all the armed forces of the wor
ld. The army nurses have made a permanent place in every Nation’s heart by nursi
ng millions of sick and wounded soldiers back to health. The Officers of Militar
y Nursing Service had distinguished them selves in the Second World War, through
the care of the sick and wounded soldiers in India and also at many foreign the
atres of war. Post independence, the Nursing Officers cared for the wounded sold
iers in five major bloody conflicts with the neighboring countries. Many Soldier
s injured in encounters with militants in terrorism strafed North and North East
ern states owes their life to these brave women who were forced to remain in the
shadows.
[edit] Post Independence
Now, the Military Nursing Service is an integral part of the Armed Forces Medica
l Services (AFMS)[3]. The AFMS consists of Army Medical Corps (AMC), Army Dental
Corps [4](ADC) and Military Nursing Service (MNS). The AFMS personnel serve in
the medical establishments of Army, Navy and Air Force. Among the three, the AMC
 occupies the proud of the place. The Military Nursing Service was treated as un
der dogs since the inception of AFMS in 1948 (the AMC and ADC are more or less e
qually positioned, though most of the cream appointments in AFMS are occupied by
AMC). However, they have silently endured the negative changes happened around
them in the armed forces (being actively encouraged by AMC) and so far rendered
glorious service to the armed forces and nation by delivering the best nursing c
are in the Country. The mission of MNS is ‘Excellence in Patient Care’ both in w
ar and peace, which is pursued with utmost fervor, zeal and zest. After the inde
pendence, the Officers of MNS have not only served in India but have also played
a vital role in United Nations peace keeping missions abroad in UN missions to
Lebanon, Cambodia, Somalia and scores of other Nations. Many of such missions ar
e still active.
[edit] Milestones
Recently, they had been a part of the Medical team, which was sent to Iran to gi
ve medical cover to the wounded in a devastating earthquake, which struck Bam in
Iran. Their professional capabilities have been highly recognized and appreciat
ed by all (even by the Army Doctors!). They have received a number of distinguis
hed service medals and other military recognitions. Apart from the professional
activities, MNS Officers have also participated in sports and adventure activiti
es at National and International levels. An MNS Major won a gold medal in shooti
ng in the last Common Wealth Games.

[edit] Rank Structure

The various ranks of the Military Nursing Service are listed below in descending
order: Commissioned Officers
• Major-General
• Brigadier
• Colonel
• Lieutenant-Colonel
• Major
• Captain
• Lieutenant
Presently there are no personnel below officer rank (PBOR) in Military Nursing S
ervice as the other nursing personnel such as Nursing Assistants, Ambulance assi
stant, Stretcher Bearer etc are part of Army Medical Corps.

[edit] Relevant Provisions of Military Law

[edit] Indian Military Nursing Service Ordinance, 1943
The Military Nursing Service was formally established in the present form throug
h the Indian Military Nursing Service Ordinance, 1943. The Section 5 of the ordi
nance ordained that, all members of the Indian Military Nursing Service shall be
of commissioned rank and shall be appointed as officers of the Indian Military
Nursing Service by the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazett
e. The Section 9 (1) provides that provisions of the Indian Army Act, 1911 (now
Army Act 1950), shall, to such extent and subject to such adaptations and modifi
cations as may be prescribed, apply to Officers of the Indian Military Nursing S
ervice as they apply to Indian commissioned officers, unless they are clearly in
applicable to women. The modifications and adaptations of the Indian Army Act 19
11, as applicable to Officers of Indian Military Nursing Service were published
in the War Department notification no. 923 dated 13 Jun 1944. After the independ
ence of our country, through a special gazette of India notification, the Army A
ct 1950 was subsequently made applicable to the Officers of Military Nursing Ser
vice with suitable modification and adaptation. These adaptations and modificati
ons are contained in Army Order 197/59. These modifications and adaptations of A
rmy Act, 1950 are only pertaining to Military Offences, otherwise, the rest of t
he Army Act in its entirety is applicable to MNS Officers. The Sections of Army
Act dealing with offences (at that time) were modified for the Military Nursing
Service, because it was constituted as an all women force. The Nursing Service O
fficers were the only women serving in the Indian armed forces during the Second
World War.
[edit] Military Nursing Service (India) Rules, 1944
The Central Government, under the powers conferred by Section 10 of Indian Milit
ary Nursing Service Ordinance, 1943, framed the Military Nursing Service (India)
Rules, 1944. The Rule 3(a) lays down that the provisions of the Indian Army Act
, 1911, shall apply to officers of the Nursing Services mentioned in Sub Section
1 of Section 9 of the Ordinance, as if they were Indian Commissioned Officers,
and Sub Rule (b) stipulates that, the provisions of the Army Act shall apply to
officers of the Nursing Service mentioned in Sub Section (2) of the said Section
, as if they were Officers of the Regular Forces. The Rules 5 and 6 gives the sp
ecific adaptations and modification as ordained in Section 9(1) of the Ordinance
. As a whole, the Rules lay down the modalities for the implementation of the Or
dinance.

[edit] Army Act, 1950 and Rules 1954

The Army Act, 1950 is applicable to the Officers of Nursing Services, with some
exceptions to certain sections, which are from Section 34 to 70 dealing with off
ences. Of the provisions of the Army Act dealing with offences, only Section 39
- Absence without leave and Section 63 - Violation of good order and discipline
shall apply to offences committed by Officers of Nursing Services. The Army Rule
, 1954, in its entirety is applicable to Officers of Nursing Services. The Rule
16A lays down the authority for release of Officers from Nursing Services. The R
ule 16A: Retirement of officers. — (1) Officers shall be retired from service un
der the orders of the Central Government, or the authorities specified in sub-ru
le (2), with effect from the afternoon of the last date of the month in which th
ey—(a) Attain the age limits specified in sub-rule (5);or (b) Complete the tenur
es of appointment specified in sub-rule 5 (f) (ii) and (g) (ii) and sub-rule (6)
, whichever is earlier.(2) The authorities referred to in sub-rule (1) shall be—
(a) The Director-General, Armed Forces Medical Services in respect of officers o
f the Army Medical Corps, Army Dental Corps and Military Nursing Service;
[edit] Defence Service Regulations & Other Rules
The Officers of Nursing Services are governed by Defence Service Regulations - R
egulations for the Army 1987, various Government Orders, Army Instructions and A
rmy Orders. The Defence Service Regulations - Regulations for the Army (DSR), Pa
ra 733 (b) ordained that women officers serving in the Army Medical Corps and of
ficers in the Military Nursing Service will rank equally with male officers of t
he same titular rank, e.g., a captain (women officer) in the Army Medical Corps,
will rank equally with a captain in the Artillery or Engineers. The Army Rank w
as granted to Nursing Officers by Army Instruction 4/59. They are entitled to sa
lute and other compliments as laid down in Army Order 353/73. The Army Order 70/
73 lays down that, persons subject to Army Act who are placed under the professi
onal care of officers of the Military Nursing Service shall obey and comply with
professional orders and direction of such Nursing Officers. They shall be liabl
e to be punished for non-compliance of such orders, under Section 63 of Army Act
, 1950 for violation of good order and discipline. The pay and allowances of Off
icers of Nursing Services are as per the government orders issued from time to t
ime. The Army Order 11/82 lays down the order of precedence of Military Nursing
Service in the hierarchy of the Arms and Services of the Army. The DSR, Vol – I
Para 235, assigns ADGMNS (Additional Director General MNS – held by an Officer o
f Major General rank), the duty of technical advisor to DGAFMS, DGMS (Army), DGM
S (Navy) and DGMS (Air Force). Further, the DSR, Vol – I, Para 242 (read with Pa
ra 243, 247, 250 and 251) lays down that, all Nursing Officers in charges of war
ds and departments are responsible only to the Principal Matron of the Military
(including Navy and Air Force) Hospital (Medical Establishment).