After the landmark Supreme Court verdict, 108 women officers were promoted to the rank of colonel by the Army. Nearly two years after the verdict, a top general has cited "common ego issues" and "lack of empathy" as serious concerns in a review of eight colonel-rank women officers under him.

According to NDTV, Lieutenant General Rajeev Puri, who completed his tenure as commander of the 17 Mountain Strike Corps on November 20, has written a letter to Lieutenant General Ram Chandra Tiwari, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Command, listing the findings of a highly important "in-house review".

However, defence sources told NDTV that the Army is committed to inducting women officers and the senior officer's suggestions are to improve training standards.

Lt Gen Puri has pointed to "serious concerns about interpersonal relationships" and "lack of understanding and tact" among women officers of the rank of Colonel. The report also mentions "an exaggerated tendency to complain" and "mundane problems related to ego that get out of control".

Women officers are now commanding units like Air Defence, Signals, Ordnance, Intelligence, Engineers and Service Corps.

Lt Gen Puri has said that women officers of the rank of Colonel "act on their own" in decision-making and are "not trained to be commanders."

"There has been an increase in the number of issues related to officer management in units run by women officers in the last one year. These are indicative of serious concerns about interpersonal relationships. Most of the cases are related to lack of understanding and tactfulness of the individual needs of unit personnel, particularly officers. There is more emphasis on ending conflict through power rather than conflict resolution through mutual respect. Prejudice and mistrust have been clearly seen in some cases in recent times," the senior officer wrote in the letter dated October 1. He said this has greatly increased the level of stress in the unit.

Lt Gen Puri also emphasised that instead of giving credit and encouraging subordinates, there is an uncontrolled desire to make derogatory statements about junior officers.

She also noted a serious misplaced sense of entitlement among some women officers, saying they want instant gratification for even small achievements.

In 2020, the Supreme Court approved permanent commission for women in the Army and cleared the way for them to assume command roles. In February last year, a special selection board was formed to promote 108 women officers to the rank of select-grade colonel.

In his letter, Lt Gen Puri has called for focusing on “gender neutrality” rather than “gender equality” to address concerns raised about women officers of the rank of Colonel.

The senior officer said the postings of these women colonels did not familiarise them with command roles. Women officers have not been introduced to operational tasks and this has led to a "lack of understanding of the difficulties and lack of empathy towards the soldiers involved in these tasks".

Explaining the factors contributing to this attitude, Lt Gen Puri wrote, The desire to prove oneself in a field that is considered a male bastion is possibly a driving force behind the over-ambition of some women COs... To be recognised as a strong person and avoid being portrayed as soft-hearted, women COs handle HR issues more firmly than their male counterparts.

NDTV contacted defence sources about the senior officer's review, which is likely to spark a major debate. Sources said this was the first batch of women officers in command roles in the army.

"Training of women officers is an ongoing process and leadership roles should be based on years of experience in junior leadership roles to prepare officers for command," a source said. The suggestions given were aimed at improving training standards within the army to further integrate women into the force.