New Delhi: Major Navya Shekhawat has become the first woman officer from the Indian Army to serve as aide-de-camp (ADC) to the president, Droupadi Murmu, at Rashtrapati Bhavan. She is the second woman officer overall to hold the President’s ADC appointment, after Lieutenant Commander Yashasvi Solanki of the Indian Navy in 2025.
The assignment places Major Shekhawat on the president’s military staff, which supports official engagements, ceremonial functions and protocol. Rashtrapati Bhavan has described its military staff as providing day-to-day assistance to the president, handling administrative, personal and protocol requirements and offering professional military advice, guidance and support.
Times of India reported that Major Shekhawat entered the Army through the Union Public Service Commission’s (UPSC) Combined Defence Services (CDS) Examination (I), 2020. The final result of the examination lists Major Shekhawat seventh among 51 candidates selected for the 27th Short Service Commission Women Non-Technical Course at the Officers Training Academy (OTA), Chennai.
After completing training at OTA, Major Shekhawat was commissioned into the Army Service Corps (ASC) in 2021 and subsequently rose to the rank of major. The ASC is one of the Army’s principal logistics services, responsible for functions including transport support and provisioning of rations and petroleum products to formations across the country.
Her posting at Rashtrapati Bhavan gives the Army its first woman officer in the president’s ADC appointment. The position is distinct from that of the president’s military secretary and is held by serving military officers attached to the president’s staff.
The role extends beyond appearances at ceremonial events. president’s secretariat records describing the work of the military staff say officers assist with the president’s daily programme and functions while handling protocol and other requirements involving the Head of State and visiting dignitaries. ADCs also accompany the president during important official engagements and support coordination connected with the president’s military and ceremonial responsibilities.
Maj Shekhawat follows Lt Cdr Yashasvi Solanki, whose appointment in 2025 marked the first time a woman officer had served as an ADC to the president. Solanki also became the first woman officer from the Indian Navy to hold the appointment.
Major Shekhawat’s selection adds another military service to the representation of women on the president’s ADC team, as women officers continue to take up a wider range of appointments across the armed forces.