Top Army Officer’s Controversial Review Of Women Colonels

New Delhi:

Nearly two years after the Army promoted 108 woman officers to the rank of Colonel after Supreme Court’s landmark judgment, a top general has listed “mundane ego issues” and “lack of empathy” among what he calls “serious concerns” in his review of eight Colonel-rank women officers under his command.

Lieutenant General Rajeev Puri, who completed his tenure as commander of 17 Mountain Strike Corps on November 20, has written to General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command, Lt General Ram Chander Tiwari, listing findings of a vastly critical “in-house review”.

Defence sources, however, have told NDTV that the Army is committed to the induction of women officers and that the senior officer’s suggestions are meant to improve training standards.

Lt General Puri has pointed to “serious concerns regarding interpersonal relations” and a “lack of tact and understanding” among the Colonel-rank women officers. The report also noted an “exaggerated tendency to complaint” and “mundane ego issues which spiral out of control”.

Woman officers now command units such as air defence, signals, ordnance, intelligence, engineers and service corps.

Lt General Puri has said that the Colonel-rank women officers have a “my way or highway kind of approach to decision making” and are “not trained to be commanders”.

“During the last one year, there has been an increase in the number of officer management issues in units commanded by women officers. These are indicative of serious concerns regarding interpersonal relations. Most cases pertain to lack of tact and understanding of the personal requirements of unit personnel, especially officers. The emphasis is more on conflict termination through might, rather than conflict resolution through mutual respect. A prejudice and mistrust was evident in few of the cases in the recent past,” the senior officer wrote in the letter dated October 1.

This, he said, was leading to “high levels of stress in the units. Lt General Puri also highlighted “an uncontrollable urge to make derogatory statements regarding junior officers to usurp credit rather than attributing it to subordinates and encouraging them is routine”. He also noted a “serious misplaced sense of entitlement” in some women officers and said they sought “immediate gratification for minor achievements”.

A Supreme Court in 2020 cleared permanent commission for women in the Army and paved the way for them taking up command roles. In February last year, a special selection board was put together to promote 108 women officers to the rank of select-grade colonel.

In his letter, Lt General Puri has called for a focus on “gender neutrality” instead of “gender equality” to address the concerns he has raised about the Colonel-rank woman officers. The senior officer noted that the postings of these women Colonels did not expose them to command roles. The woman officers have not been exposed to operational tasks and this has led to a “lack of understanding of hardships and resultant lack of compassion for the troops involved in these tasks”.

Explaining the factors that contribute to this approach, Lt General Puri has written, “The desire to prove oneself in a field which was supposed to be a male bastion is likely a driver behind the over-ambitiousness in some women COs… In order to be perceived as strong individuals and avoid being judged as soft-hearted, women COs handle HR issues with a firmer hand than their male counterparts.”

NDTV reached out to defence sources regarding the senior officer’s review that is likely to fire up a huge debate. The sources said this was the first batch of women officers in command roles in the Army. “The training of women officers is an ongoing process and leadership roles need to be based upon years of experience in junior leadership roles to prepare officers for command. The suggestions made were meant to improve the training standards within the Army in order to further integrate women into the force,” a source said.