The top Army general who was charged with examining eight Colonel-level female officers under his command has expressed “serious concerns” about them. He has mentioned “mundane ego issues” and “lack of empathy” among numerous other concerns in the “highly critical” assessment.
Notably, two years after the Supreme Court’s groundbreaking decision, the Army elevated 108 female officers to the rank of Colonel.
Lieutenant General Rajeev Puri conducted the review after serving as commander of the 17 Mountain Strike Corps till November 20. He wrote to Lt General Ram Chander Tiwari, the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Command, outlining his findings.
His review points to “serious concerns regarding interpersonal relations” and a “lack of tact and understanding” among the Colonel-rank women officers. It adds that this is mainly because they lack an “understanding of the personal requirements of unit personnel”.
It further states that they have an “exaggerated tendency to complain” and “mundane ego issues which spiral out of control”.
In the review, Lt General Puri further says that the Colonel-rank women officers have a “my way or highway kind of approach to decision making”.
The review states that there has been an “increase in the number of officer management issues in units commanded by women officers” in the last year.
“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,” it states.
Lt General Puri states in the review that due to this, there were “high levels of stress in the units”. He also stated that it was a “routine” practice for women officers to try and take credit for things, instead of “attributing it to subordinates and encouraging them”.
He says that some women officers suffer from a “serious misplaced sense of entitlement” and said they sought “immediate gratification for minor achievements”.
The review also states that since the woman officers have not been exposed to operational tasks, there is a “lack of understanding of hardships and resultant lack of compassion for the troops involved in these tasks”.
In a bid to resolve the issues, Lt General Puri calls for a focus on “gender neutrality” instead of “gender equality” in the review.
Notably, following the SC order, a special selection board was set up to promote 108 women officers to the rank of select-grade colonel.
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Source: WION
