Major Navya Shekhawat Becomes First Indian Army Woman Officer to Serve as President’s ADC
Major Navya Shekhawat of the Army Service Corps has become the first woman officer from the Indian Army to be appointed Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to President Droupadi Murmu, adding a new first to the evolving presence of women officers in the country’s highest ceremonial and protocol appointments.
Her posting places her among the small cadre of serving military officers who assist the President during official engagements, state ceremonies and diplomatic functions at Rashtrapati Bhavan. She is also only the second woman overall to hold the presidential ADC assignment, after Lieutenant Commander Yashasvi Solanki of the Indian Navy became the first woman to serve in the role in May 2025.
The appointment is notable not only because it breaks a long-standing gender barrier in the Army, but also because the Army traditionally provides three of the President’s five ADCs, with one each drawn from the Navy and the Air Force. Major Shekhawat’s selection therefore extends the recent opening of this role to women into the service that supplies the largest share of the President’s ADCs.
Hailing from Kerpura village in Rajasthan’s Sikar district, Major Shekhawat joined the Army through the Combined Defence Services examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission. Her name appeared on the official CDS (I) 2020 Officers Training Academy women’s merit list for the Short Service Commission Women Non-Technical Course. After completing training at the Officers Training Academy in Chennai, she was commissioned into the Army Service Corps in 2021.
The Army Service Corps plays a critical logistics role, handling supplies, transportation and other support systems that keep military formations operational. Major Shekhawat rose to the rank of Major in roughly five years from commissioning and was appointed ADC in 2026. Reports indicate that she has been serving in the role at Rashtrapati Bhavan since July.
Although the ADC position is often seen through the lens of ceremony, it carries substantial responsibility. ADCs accompany the President at official functions and investiture ceremonies, and are involved in protocol, coordination and communication between Rashtrapati Bhavan and other arms of government. The job requires discipline, discretion and a detailed understanding of military and state ceremonial procedure.
Images and videos of Major Shekhawat standing beside the President have circulated widely, making her a visible figure for defence aspirants and a public face of the gradual broadening of roles available to women in the armed forces.
The broader significance of her appointment also lies in the long arc of women’s integration into the Indian Army. Women first entered the force as commissioned officers through the Short Service Commission route in 1992. Since then, opportunities have widened, including after the Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling in the Babita Puniya case, which directed that eligible women Short Service Commission officers be considered for Permanent Commission on terms comparable to their male counterparts. Permanent Commission has since been extended to several streams, including the Army Service Corps.
