A year after the armed forces began appointing women officers to command positions in line with the Supreme Court directives, a letter by a top Army commander flagging several functional issues involving women officers has kicked up a debate in…

Vijay Mohan

A year after the armed forces began appointing women officers to command positions in line with the Supreme Court directives, a letter by a top Army commander flagging several functional issues involving women officers has kicked up a debate in defence circles.

In October, Lt Gen Rajeev Puri, General Officer Commanding, 17 Corps, Panagarh, wrote to Lt Gen Ram Chander Tiwari, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command, Kolkata, raising concerns like frequent complaints, ego and lack of empathy in units commanded by women officers. He listed several remedial measures to address the situation.

“Since command of a unit is singularly the most crucial command in the Indian Army and is also the way forward to progression to higher ranks, it is imperative that a pragmatic performance analysis be undertaken in respect of the women commanding officers (COs),” Lt Gen Puri said.

“The last one year plus has given an insight into the style of command of women commanding officers. Casual discussions with officers at various echelons have also provided inputs, some of which are encouraging. However, a large number of inputs have brought out common traits and trends which need to be studied, analysed and discussed for the benefit of future commanders as well as the overall interest of the organisation,” he added.

Some women officers, meanwhile, have rebutted the contents of the letter and the issues raised.

The Army opened its doors to women officers in 1992, allowing them short service commission in non-combat arms and services like Signals, Ordnance, Engineers, education, law and Intelligence. Later, more arms like Aviation and Air Defence were opened up and the latest development is allowing women to join the Artillery, a combat arm. At present, the Infantry, Armoured Corps and Mechanised Infantry are the only three arms that do not have women officers.

The first batch of 25 women officers was commissioned in 1993. Before this, women officers were allowed only in the Army Medical Corps and the Military Nursing Service, where they have reached the rank of Lieutenant General and equivalent. The Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy also followed suit the same year and have now allowed women to become fighter pilots and serve onboard warships.

Elsewhere, women have been a part of the armed forces, as officers as well as in the ranks, since long. The current heads of the US Navy and the US Coast Guard are both women.

In 2015, following intervention by the Supreme Court, permanent commission was introduced for women officers, which allowed them career progression beyond the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

The first woman officer to be selected for promotion to the rank of Colonel outside the medical cadre was in 2014 from the JAG Department. In 2023, 108 women officers were promoted to the rank of Colonel and some were also given command assignments. In the Air Force, about 40 women have been promoted to the equivalent rank of Group Captain. The nuances of command are different in each service, given their role, operating environment, manpower psyche and ethos.

A new chapter began in 2019 when the armed forces started recruitment of women into their rank and file. The first batch of women soldiers, recruited under the Agnipath scheme, was inducted last year and at present they are allowed only in the Corps of Military Police.

Though numbers vary each year owing to overall vacancies and discharges, the approximate number of women officers currently is 1,740 in the Army 1,600 in the IAF and 530 in the Navy. In addition, there are 6,430 officers in the Army Medical Corps, Army Dental Corps and Military Nursing Service. The review carried out by Lt Gen Puri was based on the performance of eight women officers holding command positions within 17 Corps.

In his letter, the Corps Commander cited a lack of tact and sensitivity towards the personal needs of officers and subordinates, with the approach being authoritative conflict resolution rather than mutual resolution.

An emerging trend of senior authorities receiving complaints from women COs at the drop of a hat has been noticed. Mundane cases seldom reported by male counterparts are indicative of a predisposition to lean on the hierarchy as soon as an adverse situation develops, the letter states.

Women COs have also been found to centralise decision-making, with non-inclusion of officers of considerable seniority in the day-to-day affairs of the unit. There seems to be inability or lack of concern for effective communication and establishment of trust, and the lack of involvement has led to officers having a lower understanding of their professional tasks, it adds.

A misplaced sense of entitlements and personal privileges contrary to orders and authorisation, some of which have been termed laughable, self-centred and egoistic, is another issued flagged in the letter, which states that the sheer proportion of women COs involved with these issues points towards a trend rather than an exception. Lack of empathy, neglect of genuine compassionate requirements of troops as well as officers, disproportionate punishments and viewing professional disagreement as insubordination have also been projected.

According to the letter, an analysis of the underlying factors suggests that women officers were inducted as a support cadre and were neither trained nor groomed to assume the role of a commanding officer in an operational establishment, and nor did these officers themselves prepare for this task until about a couple of years ago.

The postings of these officers did not expose them to command roles and hardly has any woman tenanted a high-pressure command and staff appointment prior to becoming a CO. At the level of a CO, hand-holding is neither available nor expected, and hence the role at present is being performed more as an on-the-job training rather than a well-prepared task.

The remedial measures suggested in the letter include:

• A comprehensive policy on gender neutrality be issued by the Adjutant General’s (AG) Branch. Further, neutrality in posting and selection profiles be implemented by the Military Secretary’s (MS) Branch.
• Policy on spouse coordinated postings be reviewed. Case for spouse coordinated posting be treated at par with posting on compassionate grounds.
• Training the trainers at institutes of instruction for a gender-neutral assessment of course performance.
• Women officers are an empowered lot. Hence, showcasing involvement of women officers in women empowerment roles like women-only bike rallies and adventure activities needs to be minimised.
• Increase in content of HR management for the next few batches of senior command course for women officers is recommended. This should be focused on case studies and bringing out important lessons.
• While attempting proportionate representation in assignments like UN missions and foreign postings, the MS and AG branches should also monitor proportionate tasking in all assignments within the organisation.
• Women officers posted to units were allotted different tasks as compared to male officers and exposure to certain operational tasks was minimised. This preferential treatment resulted in a lack of understanding of hardships and the resultant lack of compassion for troops involved in these tasks.

Maj Gen AP Singh (retd), a former division commander who has also served with the Army Training Command, says the process seems to have been fast-tracked and it will take time to mature. “There is a structured process at all levels that grooms prospective commanding officers, which is different from basic soldiering. Since women had initially come in for short service commission, this aspect was missing in their career progression,” he adds.

“If men can get command, so should women,” asserts Lt Gen JS Cheema (retd), former Deputy Chief of Army Staff. “But then,” he adds, “they should first be duly exposed to the nuances of command at the sub-unit level and undergo the requisite courses.”

Women officers, and now also the rank and file, are here to stay and their role and numbers are only expected to grow. There have been debates on women in the armed forces before and more would crop up as and when fresh issues emerge, policy changes are implemented and personal and professional perceptions are aired in the appropriate forums.

Experts say the appointment of women officers as COs is something very new to the armed forces. Hence, some functional deficiencies and friction, either perceived or genuine, are to be expected even though women officers have performed commendably in other roles.

It is also pointed out that the letter may not have been a one-off communique. It is for the leadership, both political and military, they say, to take a pragmatic and objective view to address the issue and devise measures so that the wrinkles are ironed out.