Over a year-and-a-half, after a special selection board was put together to promote 108 women officers to the rank of colonel, a top general has written to the Eastern Army commander listing a host of "issues" associated with various women commanding officers such as "exaggerated tendency to complain" and "lack of empathy".
Sources in the defence establishment said the letter was feedback shared by the general, but it was his opinion and "not of the Army".
The 1.3 million-strong force has maintained that the Army is a gender-agnostic force.
In the letter, dated October 1, Lieutenant General Rajeev Puri -- who completed his tenure as commander of the Panagarh-based 17 Mountain Strike Corps or Brahmastra Corps a few days ago -- has written to General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command, Lieutenant General Ram Chander Tiwari, citing findings of an "in-house review" of eight woman commanding officers (COs) carried out based on their "demonstrated performance".
"Since command of the unit is singularly the most crucial command in the IA (Indian Amy) and is also the way forward to progression to higher ranks in the organisation, it was imperative that a pragmatic performance analysis be undertaken in respect of the women Commanding Officers," it reads.
Meanwhile, defence sources also said that the Army does not differentiate between two officers, male or female.
The letter by the top general has already created a stir drawing a critical reaction from many people on the social media. The Press Trust of India has seen a copy of the letter.
Lieutenant General Puri has broadly listed the "issued identified" which include -- "interpersonal relation", an "exaggerated tendency to complain", a "misplaced sense of entitlement", "lack of empathy", and "over or lack of ambition".
The complaints by women COs concerning "disregard" to their authority are "received regularly", the general wrote.
These issues start with "mundane ego problems" and "spiral out of control in most cases". Such "mundane cases" are "seldom reported by male counterparts" when commanding units. "This is indicative of a predisposition to lean on the hierarchy as soon as an adverse situation develops," the general said in his letter.
On the issue of "lack of empathy", the general said in the letter that it may be attributable to a "need to overcompensate since they perceive that any sign of compassion may be indicative of a gender trait of being soft in their dealings".
"There seems to be an inability or lack of concern for effective communication and establishment of trust. The approach, as indicated in some cases is a 'my way or highway' kind of approach," it said.
The general has also mentioned a few "remedial measures" in his letter, saying the issues highlighted and the attributes contributed to these are "but a small part of the whole gender puzzle".
It is important that certain "course corrections" are made to improve the overall quality of command in units, he suggested.
In February this year, the Centre had informed the Supreme Court that a detailed policy on career progression of women officers in the Indian Army would be in place by March 31, 2024
Follow us
