Top Indian Army officer says women colonels are causing ‘high levels of stress’

A top Army general who was tasked with reviewing eight Colonel-rank women officers under his command has cited some “serious concerns” about them. He has listed "mundane ego issues" and "lack of empathy" among several other matters in the "highly critical" report.

Notably, two years back, the Army promoted 108 woman officers to the rank of Colonel following the Supreme Court's landmark judgment.

The review was carried out by Lieutenant General Rajeev Puri upon completion of his tenure as commander of the 17 Mountain Strike Corps on November 20. He wrote to the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command, Lt General Ram Chander Tiwari, listing his findings.

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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".

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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.

'Sense of entitlement,' 'prejudice and mistrust'

"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.