Declining Discipline in Government Organisations

December 13th, 2008 - 7:58 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, Dec 13 (IANS) An Indian Army colonel was arrested Friday night after a lady officer complained he had misbehaved with her, police said Saturday.”The incident took place Friday night. Colonel Sunder Yadav, 52, was with the lady officer, a captain, who is a doctor at base hospital in Delhi cantonment. The victim told us that when Yadav started to misbehave with her, she somehow managed to get out of the car they were in,” a senior police officer said.

The lady officer then called a police control room van and complained of the harassment. Yadav was arrested for misbehaving with the victim but later released on bail, the police officer added. Yadav is a registrar at Army College of Medical Sciences in Delhi Cantonment.
Indian Army colonel arrested for misbehaviour

Four months ago...
RAW woman official attempts suicide over harassment
NEW DELHI: A woman RAW official tried to commit suicide by consuming poison outside the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday. The incident has brought the country's external intelligence agency under public gaze yet again.

Nisha Bhatia was posted at the training centre of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in Gurgaon. She had been claiming that she was being sexually harassed by her superiors at RAW.

Bhatia reached the PMO on Tuesday afternoon and demanded to meet an official posted there. However, on being denied entry, she consumed *** poison in front of the office in the high security area. She was immediately rushed to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital where the doctors did a stomach wash. Her condition was stated to be out of danger.

Bhatia was in the rank of Director in the RAW and posted in the training division.
The Government has already constituted an inquiry into her complaint of sexual harassment by unnamed superiors in the RAW. A Joint Secretary on deputation to RAW is the main accused.

In 2004, RAW was in the news when Rabinder Singh, a Joint Secretary-level officer in RAW, escaped to the US. Later, several allegations were levelled by a former official Maj Gen (Retd) V K Singh about corruption in the agency.
RAW officer tries to kill herself at PMO.

Comment: The heads of the Government Organisations are solely responsible for discipline. Sexual harassment, corruption and crime involves larger issues and needs to investigated from the top to bottom and not the other way around. Whistle blowers need to be protected.

Army lets women be soldiers for life

Photo courtesy Bharat Rakshak
The move comes after HT carried a series of reports highlighting gender bias in the forces and triggered a debate. It will give the women officers their rightful place in a male-dominated military culture, some 15 years after they were allowed into the armed forces.

National Defence Academy and other service-specific training institutions will no longer be the exclusive domain of male cadets. Lieutenant General Punita Arora (retd), the first lady to don the three-star rank in India’s military history, told HT, “The girls have proved their worth in the armed forces. They deserve it.”

However, women will continue to be accepted only in responsibilities more in tune with generally accepted notions of gender. Close combat would essentially imply serving in the infantry, armoured corps, flying a fighter aircraft or sailing on a warship.

A senior army officer said the existing cadre of women officers is unlikely to benefit as permanent commission would come with its own terms and conditions. Defence ministry figures show there are just 945 women out of 35,377 officers in the army, 739 out of 10,563 officers in the air force and 236 out of 7,336 officers in the navy. HT had recently reported that several lady officers were opting for corporate sector with the government dithering on permanent commission.
Army lets women soldiers for life
National Defence Academy may let in women cadets
Armed Forces crack their glass ceiling: allow permanent commission for women
India’s first woman permanent commission officer by 2013

UNLIMITED OPPORTUNITIES
Indian Armed forces trains in the art of war besides the academic curriculum, it also gives ample scope to acquire new skills constantly. Activities like river rafting, para jumping, rock climbing, trekking, mountaineering or even desert safaris. When it comes to adventure and sports, there’s no place like the armed forces. Why should the women be left out? A very wise decision taken by MOD to straighten its record.

Recruit more women: Reduce sexual harassment

PTI Photo
Captain Poonam Kaur’s allegations of sexual harassment have clouded the Indian army’s reputation, the fact remains that as long as women are barely tolerated in the military and unable to wield real power, such instances will recur. The Indian army has been recruiting women for the last 15 years, initially to fill up junior slots that were falling vacant. In their 10 years of work, women officers can rise only up to the level of a major, so their male colleagues have no fear of reprisal.

Antony orders inquiry into woman officer's allegations
Recruit more women: Else, power differentials in the army are bound to be abused