Women officers mature, considerate, and up and about, says army chief

Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi has hailed women officer’s contributions to the military saying they are performing “exceedingly well” and are mature. His praise for women army personnel comes months after a serving lieutenant general criticised them for not living up to the standards of commanding officers (CO).

“Today, I just wish to assure you, women officers were doing exceedingly well,” General Dwivedi said during a press conference ahead of Army Day.

Gen Dwivedi said that the induction of women officers in various other posts will increase by “12 times” by 2032 and by the end of this year the number of female officers will go up to 2,037. Currently, there are 115 women COs while 18 more are ready to join the military.

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“As far as the Army is concerned, we want strong women officers… maybe ‘Kaali Mata Ka Roop’… It means it has to be a gender-neutral approach,” he added.

The Army started assigning women officers to command roles following a Supreme Court order in 2023.

Several women officers are now helming units in various forward locations, including in areas under the Northern and Eastern Commands.

What did the Lt General say?

In an unprecedented move, Lt General Rajeev Puri, a Corps Commander, had written a five-page letter to Eastern Army Commander Lt General Ram Chander Tiwari listing a series of issues impacting Army units commanded by women officers in the eastern sector.

“During the last year, there has been an increase in the number of officer management issues in units commanded by women officers,” he said in the letter.

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He wrote that most cases pertain to lack of tact and understanding of the personal requirements of unit personnel, especially officers.

Lt Gen Puri also listed “misplaced sense of entitlement”, “lack of empathy” and a “tendency to complain” among the issues impacting the units.

Army orders probe

Replying to the letter in question, Gen Dwivedi said, “The letter which got leaked out, shouldn’t have gotten leaked out. A court of inquiry has been ordered about it. It is a perception, it is his perception. He has all the right to give out that perception and comment.”

He added, “It is an internal communication.”

With inputs from PTI