In 2020, the Supreme Court paved the way for women to take up command roles in the Indian Army when it gave a nod to permanent commission for women. Now, four years later, a top Army official has provided stinging feedback on women in combat leadership roles.
According to Lt General Rajeev Puri, the outgoing Corps Commander of the 17 Corps, women commanding officers’ (COs) had various leadership shortcomings, including poor “interpersonal relations”, an “exaggerated tendency to complain” and a “lack of empathy” for officers and troops in their units.
Lt General Rajeev Puri in a letter addressed to General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command, Lt General Ram Chander Tiwari on October 1 reviewed eight Colonel-rank women officers under his command. His letter, which is five pages long, was also addressed to senior officials at Army Headquarters, reported the Times of India.
The letter is likely to create a huge debate once again on whether women should be permitted in the Indian Army in senior roles and their efficiency in leading men in combat.
We take a closer look at the concerns flagged by the top army official.
Many concerns over women COs
In his letter, Lt Gen Rajeev Puri flagged “serious concerns regarding interpersonal relations” and a “lack of tact and understanding” among the Colonel-rank women officers.
He wrote, “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 a 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.”
He also noted that the women COs have “an uncontrolled urge to make derogatory statements regarding juniors to usurp credit, rather than encouraging them, is routine”.
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In his review of the women officers, Lt Gen Puri also noted that some of them even “had a misplaced sense of entitlement”. Citing an example of this, he wrote that one woman CO insisted that a subedar major (SM) open her vehicle door whenever she arrived, despite orders to the contrary. “Occasionally, when the SM would get delayed in doing so, the CO would continue sitting in her vehicle and not disembark,” Lt Gen Puri noted.
In 2023, a total of 108 women officers were cleared for the rank of colonels by a special selection board. Representational image/PTI
He added that the women COs exhibited an “exaggerated tendency to complain” to senior commanders about their subordinates. Furthermore, according to him, the Colonel-rank women officers had a “my way or highway” approach, which led to a lack of trust among officers.
He also pointed out that in some cases they sought “immediate gratification for minor achievements”.
The top Army official also pointed out that these behavioural traits or styles of leadership could be attributed to the fact that they were trying to prove themselves. “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,” he wrote.
He concluded his letter by writing that the Indian Army needed to shift away from “gender equality” to “gender neutrality”. “Gender equality primarily translates to providing equal opportunity for all genders, gender neutrality lays emphasis on equality in dealing and progression irrespective of gender,” he wrote, suggesting that gender-neutral policies should be prioritised in officer postings and selection profiles.
Reactions to the letter
Shortly after the letter was made public, it sparked strong reactions from many. Sources from the defence establishment maintained that the letter was meant to improve training 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 told NDTV.
However, women officers who saw the letter were dismayed by it. One such woman officer told Hindustan Times that it was “bitterly disappointing and smacking of blatant sexism”. She told the daily that it was disturbing as it has called into question their work ethic.
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Indian women army cadets march during their graduation ceremony at the Officers Training Academy in Chennai. Women are dismayed by the senior official’s letter reviewing women COs. Representational image/AFP
On social media too, reports of the letter prompted some anger, while others expressed support for it. Man Aman Singh Chhina, who reports on defence and national security affairs wrote on X, “The letter written by Lt Gen Rajeev Puri is a disgrace has been deliberately leaked as part of agenda to discredit women Army officers. To stereotype all women COs in one letter is just stupidity. The inability to think beyond women being “different” just reflects how entrenched the old boys club in Army is. And to look at all women officers as one homogenous unit demonstrates a fairly serious lack of intellect.”
Others on X said that the general brought up valid points and that women shouldn’t be given leadership roles in the fighting forces.
Women in senior leadership roles in Army
It was in February 2020 that the
Supreme Court of India passed a landmark judgment, ruling that women officers would be eligible for permanent commissions, allowing them to be in commanding roles. The ruling allowed all women officers to be on par with men when it comes to promotions, ranks, benefits and pensions.
Until this decision, women were inducted into the Army through the Short Service Commission (SSC) and didn’t qualify for a permanent commission.
Women Army officers with lawyer and BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi (centre) at the Supreme Court. File image/PTI
Following this judgment, in 2023, a total of 108 women officers out of 244 were cleared for the rank of colonels by a special selection board. They then took up their command roles in various Army units, including air defence, signals, ordnance, intelligence, engineers and service corps across the country.
In March last year, the government announced that there were a total of 7,093 women serving in the Indian Army. Of this, 6, 993 were officers, including Army Medical Corps (AMC)/ Army Dental Corps (ADC) and Military Nursing Service (MNS) officers, whereas 100 others belonged to the Other Ranks.
With inputs from agencies
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