Why is no Woman General in the Indian Army?

06-June 2023...........

From allowing girls to join NDA to allowing female officers to hold command roles in the Indian Army, the Indian Army has witnessed a sea change towards gender equality in the Indian Army. But, Since Historical Times, the Army has always been patriarchal in nature because of the requirements of physical fitness, stamina, and ruthlessness. Generally, Women were not considered to be fit for these roles because it was deemed that women lack these qualities.

But, If we study our history closely, we will know these are baseless claims only. India has always been a land of leaders and women are no exception. India has produced some of the best women leaders who sometimes outweigh male leaders. Leaders like Rani Lakshmi Bai, Ahilya Bai Holkar, Tara Bai Bhonsle, and Rani Chennamma are some of the female military leaders whose bravery is still sung today. General Hugh Rose who led the British forces against Rani Laxmi Bai and on her death said that "here lay the woman who was the only man among the rebels".

How Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army is selected?

The Chief of Army Staff is appointed by the Appointment Committee of Cabinet which is headed by the Prime Minister of India. The chief of army staff of the Indian Army is appointed for a period of 3 years and up to the age of 62. There are no clear written rules about the appointment of chief of army staff. Generally, seniority, operational, and command experience are the key criteria for the appointment of chief of army staff.

List of Chief of Army Staff in the Indian Army

Sr. No.	Name of Chief of Army Staff	Regiment/Unit
1	General Sir Robert Lockhart	51 Sikhs Frontier Force
2	General Francis Robert Roy Bucher	Scottish Rifles
3	Field Marshal Kodandera Madappa Cariappa	Rajput Rifles
4	General Maharaj Rajendrasinhji Jadeja	2nd Lancers (Gardner’s Horse)
5	General Maharaj Rajendrasinhji Jadeja	2nd Lancers (Gardner’s Horse)
6	General Satyawant Mallana Sringesh	19th Hyderabad Regiment
7	General Kodandera Subayya Thimayya	19th Hyderabad Regiment
8	General Pran Nath Thapar	1st Punjab Regiment
9	General Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri	7th Light Cavalry
10	General Paramasiva Prabhakar Kumaramangalam	Regiment of Artillery
11	Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw	12th Frontier Force Regiment
12	General Gopal Gurunath Bewoor	Dogra Regiment
13	General Tapishwar Narain Raina	Kumaon Regiment
14	General Om Prakash Malhotra	Regiment of Artillery
15	General Kotikalapudi Venkata Krishna Rao	Mahar Regiment
16	General Arun Kumar Shridhar Vaidya	9th Deccan Horse
17	General Krishnaswamy Sundarji	Mahar Regiment
18	General Ashwa Nath Sharma	16th Light Cavalry
19	General Sunith Francis Rodrigues	Regiment of Artillery
20	General Bipin Chandra Joshi	64th Cavalry
21	General Shankar Roy Chowdhary	20th Lancers
22	General Ved Prakash Malik	Sikh Light Infantry
23	General Sundarajan Padmanabhan	Regiment of Artillery
24	General Nirmal Chander Vij	Dogra Regiment
25	General Joginder Jaswant Singh	Maratha Light Infantry
26	General Deepak Kapoor	Regiment of Artillery
27	General Vijay Kumar Singh	Rajput Regiment
28	General Bikram Singh	Sikh Light Infantry
29	General Dalbir Singh Suhag	5 Gorkha Rifles
30	CDS Bipin Rawat	11 Gorkha Rifles
31	General Manoj Mukund Naravane	7 Sikh Light Infantry
32	General Manoj Pande	Corps of Engineers

Reason	Details
Women were not allowed to join Core Regiments/Units of the Indian Army	If you analyze carefully, all the Chief of Army Staff belong to Core Regimenst/Units of the Indian Army i.e. Infantry, Armoured Corps, and Artillery. It is not a written rule, but the Chief of Army Staff is generally selected from the fighting arms of the Indian Army not from support arms like Army Medical Corp, Corps of Signals, or Army Supply Corps. Women Officers of the Indian Army were not allowed to join these fighting arms of the Indian Army. Women Officers have been allowed to join Artillery Regiment this year only. It was not a practical choice to appoint a chief of army staff without operational experience.
Seniority	The Chief of Army Staff is normally selected on the basis of seniority. So, Army Officers who get commissioned at a young age have higher chances of becoming Chief of Army Staff. That’s why almost all the Army Officers are alumni of the National Defence Academy only because they get commissioned at a young age. In the case of female Army Officers, they get commissioning from Officers Academy, Chennai at the age of around 23-25 years. Late commissioning of female officers is one of the reasons behind not being selected as Chief of Army Staff.
No Permanent Commission	A permanent Commission was allowed in the Indian Army on the intervention of the supreme court a few years ago. Before this, only a short service commission was available in the Indian Army, JAG, and AEC being exceptions. It means that female officers could serve for a maximum of 14 years only. In the absence of a permanent commission, it was impossible for female officers of the Indian Army even to dream about the rank of Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army.
No Command Role for Female Officers	Command Role was not available till this year for female officers of the Indian Army. Only a few months ago, the Ministry of Defence decided that Female Officers of the Indian Army should hold the rank of commanding officer in the Indian Army. The command role is a very important position in the Indian Army that shows a high level of leadership qualities. Without Command Roles, Female Officers could never have been considered experienced enough for the rank of Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army.
Patriarchal Nature of Indian Society	Indian Society is a patriarchal society. From home to parliament, there is the dominance of males. So how can the Indian Army be an exception? After all, our soldiers and officers of our society only. The Indian Army did not have proper infrastructure, flexible working, and gender-neutral policies until now. Lt Gen Dushyant Singh has highlighted that due to a patriarchal mindset, female officers were generally not considered for higher ranks of the Indian Army.

Can a Female officer become Chief of Army Staff in the Future?

Female Officers of the Indian Army, indeed, have a chance to become Chief of Army Staff in the Indian Army. Now, Female Officers have a suitable gender-neutral environment within the Indian Army that will allow them to go up to higher ranks of the Indian Army. Now female officers can get permanent commissions, command roles, and entry into prestigious army staff colleges. We can see in the Russia-Ukraine War, Today, technology is playing a big role in the war, and in the coming time war will hardly be fought on the ground. So, the role of women in the coming wars is going to be imminent. In such a scenario, female officers can be considered for the role of chief of army staff.

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