Will the Indian Army ever have a Female Army Chief?

Siddhant Sandhu
March 11, 2023
1411

There have been significant reforms in the Indian army regarding women’s participation in recent years. The Indian Army has made several positions available to women, including combat roles that were previously reserved for men only. This decision has been widely praised as a positive step towards gender equality and women’s empowerment in the military.

Will the Indian Army ever have a Female Army Chief

Some of the key reforms that have taken place in the Indian army for women:

The Indian Army announced in 2016 that it would allow women to serve in combat roles. Women can now apply for positions in the infantry, artillery, and armored corps, among others.
Women were first inducted into the Indian Army’s military police in 2019. The Corps of Military Police Centre and School in Bengaluru trained the first batch of 100 female soldiers.
The Indian Army announced in 2020 that women would be allowed to serve as Permanent Commission officers in all ten branches of the army. This means that female officers will now have the same opportunities for advancement and promotion as male officers.
In addition to combat and officer positions, the Indian Army has created opportunities for women in signal, engineering, and medical corps.
Recently, we saw Captain Deeksha C Mudadevannanavar who is serving as a Doctor in the PARA Special Forces, we saw her training videos and photos and also we were told about the news that Indian Air Force and Indian Navy will start inducting women in their Special Forces unit. So we can see how Indian Army is bringing reforms for women in the Organizations.

Also read: Meet Captain Deeksha: Doctor In The Parachute Regiment (Special Forces) Battalion

However, have you ever thought about Why there is no woman Chief of Army Staff or Chief of Air or Naval Staff? In this article, we shall discuss the same. Please keep in mind all the views and points discussed are completely personal and my own personal thought process.

Indian Army Chief of Staff

The Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) (also known as the Army Chief) is a statutory position in the Indian Army that is typically held by a four-star general. The chief is the professional head of the ground forces and a key adviser to the Minister of Defence as the highest-ranking officer to serve solely in the Indian Army. In addition, the COAS is a member of the National Security Council and thus an advisor to the president and prime minister. Unless the Chief of Defence Staff and/or the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee are army officers, the COAS is typically the most senior army officer in the Indian Armed Forces. Below is the list of the Chief of Army Staff to date.

S.No.	Name	Rank	Tenure	Unit of Commission
1	General Sir Robert Lockhart	Commander-in-Chief	15 Aug 1947 to 31st Dec 1947	51 Sikhs Frontier Force
2	General Francis Robert Roy Bucher	Commander-in-Chief	21 June 1948 – 15 January 1949	Scottish Rifles
3	Field Marshal Kodandera Madappa Cariappa	Commander-in-Chief	16 January 1949 – 14 January 1953	Rajput Rifles
4	General Maharaj Rajendrasinhji Jadeja	Commander-in-Chief	15 January 1953 – 1 April 1955	2nd Lancers (Gardner’s Horse)
5	General Maharaj Rajendrasinhji Jadeja	Chief of Army Staff	1 April 1955 – 14 May 1955	2nd Lancers (Gardner’s Horse)
6	General Satyawant Mallana Sringesh	Chief of Army Staff	15 May 1955 – 7 May 1957	19th Hyderabad Regiment
7	General Kodandera Subayya Thimayya	Chief of Army Staff	8 May 1957 – 7 May 1961	19th Hyderabad Regiment
8	General Pran Nath Thapar	Chief of Army Staff	8 May 1961 – 19 November 1962	1st Punjab Regiment
9	General Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri	Chief of Army Staff	20 November 1962 – 7 June 1966	7th Light Cavalry
10	General Paramasiva Prabhakar Kumaramangalam	Chief of Army Staff	8 June 1966 – 7 June 1969	Regiment of Artillery
11	Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw	Chief of Army Staff	8 June 1969 – 15 January 1973	12th Frontier Force Regiment
12	General Gopal Gurunath Bewoor	Chief of Army Staff	16 January 1973 – 31 May 1975	Dogra Regiment
13	General Tapishwar Narain Raina	Chief of Army Staff	1 June 1975 – 31 May 1978	Kumaon Regiment
14	General Om Prakash Malhotra	Chief of Army Staff	1 June 1978 – 31 May 1981	Regiment of Artillery
15	General Kotikalapudi Venkata Krishna Rao	Chief of Army Staff	1 June 1981 – 31 July 1983	Mahar Regiment
16	General Arun Kumar Shridhar Vaidya	Chief of Army Staff	1 August 1983 – 31 January 1986	9th Deccan Horse
17	General Krishnaswamy Sundarji	Chief of Army Staff	1 February 1986 – 31 May 1988	Mahar Regiment
18	General Ashwa Nath Sharma	Chief of Army Staff	1 June 1988 – 30 June 1990	16th Light Cavalry
19	General Sunith Francis Rodrigues	Chief of Army Staff	1 July 1990 – 30 June 1993	Regiment of Artillery
20	General Bipin Chandra Joshi	Chief of Army Staff	1 July 1993 – 19 November 1994	64th Cavalry
21	General Shankar Roy Chowdhary	Chief of Army Staff	20 November 1994 – 30 September 1997	20th Lancers
22	General Ved Prakash Malik	Chief of Army Staff	1 October 1997 – 30 September 2000	Sikh Light Infantry
23	General Sundarajan Padmanabhan	Chief of Army Staff	1 October 2000 – 31 December 2002	Regiment of Artillery
24	General Nirmal Chander Vij	Chief of Army Staff	1 January 2003 – 31 January 2005	Dogra Regiment
25	General Joginder Jaswant Singh	Chief of Army Staff	1 February 2005 – 30 September 2007	Maratha Light Infantry
26	General Deepak Kapoor	Chief of Army Staff	1 October 2007 – 31 March 2010	Regiment of Artillery
27	General Vijay Kumar Singh	Chief of Army Staff	1 April 2010 – 31 May 2012	Rajput Regiment
28	General Bikram Singh	Chief of Army Staff	1 June 2012 – 31 July 2014	Sikh Light Infantry
29	General Dalbir Singh Suhag	Chief of Army Staff	1 August 2014 – 31 December 2016	5 Gorkha Rifles
30	General Bipin Rawat	Chief of Army Staff	31 December 2016 – 31 December 2019	11 Gorkha Rifles
31	General Manoj Mukund Naravane	Chief of Army Staff	31 December 2019 – 30 April 2022	7 Sikh Light Infantry
32	General Manoj Pande	Chief of Army Staff	30 April 2022 – Present	Corps of Engineers

The Age as a Factor

We can see that there are no Female chiefs of staff to date. Let us know the reason why.

After nearly 38 or 39 years of service, the Chief of Army Staff assumes this position. Women officers have been serving in the Army for the past 26 years at the most. Lady officers were not inducted into combat arms such as the armored corps, infantry, and so on till 2016 when the Army stated that it will induct women in combat roles. The Supreme Court in 2020, ordered that women officers in the Army be given permanent commissions. Then in 2021, the landmark decision came that girls will be joining NDA and till now 19 girl cadets are under training in the academy.

Now if have to make a conjecture, It is visible that these girls who will be passing from NDA will make it into the top list of generals in the Indian Army till they attain the age of 38,39 or even 40. Also Earlier due to restrictions, we were not having an infantry brigade commander or a divisional commander as they would simply lack the fundamental experience of growing in a combat unit. But recently we saw Colonel Geeta Rana, a woman officer from the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME), taking command of an independent unit in the sensitive Ladakh sector.

Also read: Meet Colonel Geeta Rana: First Woman To Lead Army Unit Near China Border In Ladakh

The Regiment/Arm as a Factor

COAS requires field soldiering experience ranging from junior to senior. They are trained at each rank, gain experience in command and staff work, and strive to be the best of their batch before becoming Chief of the Army/Navy/Air Force. The Fighting Arms have this experience, skill, knowledge, and training, whereas the Supporting Elements do not.

Each Supporting element has Generals, but they do not become Chiefs of the Army, Navy, or Air Force. How would COAS know how soldiers feel or react in those circumstances if he hadn’t served on the front lines as a young Army officer?

Only chiefs from the fighting corps—mostly infantry, armored, and artillery—are nominated and till now only Chief of Staff of the IA from a different background is General Manoj Pandey from the Corps of Engineers. Now, since women are getting combat roles and permanent commissions, we will definitely see a woman as the chief of Army/Navy/Airforce Staff in the near future.

Conclusion

Reforms in any organization are needed as it improves its working and diversity. Indian Armed Forces being one of the most superior Organizations in the world is bringing reform that will keep men and women in pairs. In the coming future, we will see women as SF operators, Core Commanders, Station Commanders, Commanders, and ultimately Chief of Army Staff. Nonetheless, it depends on you how good you are and how better you want to be in the future. Serving in the Army is a sense of great pride irrespective of the rank you hold.

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