Saluting Lt Gen Madhuri Kanitkar; Defined by no man, she is her own story!

New Delhi, March 04: Women in Indian Army? Well, this was a common rhetoric earlier. Now the question mark at the end is boastfully replaced with a full-stop. Lt Gen Madhuri Kanitkar became the third woman officer of the Indian Army to assume the coveted rank of lieutenant general, the second highest post in the force after she was promoted on Saturday.

 

 

"Lt Gen Madhuri Kanitkar is the third woman officer of #IndianArmedForces to assume the coveted rank of Lt Gen. Her #Husband is Lt Gen Rajeev Kanitkar (Retd). #Proud Couple is part of the Defence Fraternity", Indian Army tweeted confirming the spirit of the proud couple. It has been a long time in the making. But, more than half a millennium after the execution of India’s own Rani of Jhansi leading troops into a battle for freedom, the Supreme Court ruled that there were no valid reasons for the Indian Army to keep its positions of command out of female reach. 

Lt Gen M Kanitkar has reportedly served in the Army for 37 years. She was earlier the dean of Armed Forces Medical College Pune and has now been posted to Headquarters, Integrated Defence Staff under the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) in Delhi. Her husband, her strength Lt Gen Rajeev Kanitkar (Retd) and she will be the first couple in the armed forces to achieve the rank.

 

This also comes after the Ministry of Defence on Monday confirmed of inducting 364 women officers in the Indian Army. The first woman to hold the post of lieutenant general was Punita Arora, who was a surgeon vice-admiral and a former 3-star flag officer of the Indian Navy and the Indian Army. Lieutenant General Padmavathy Bandopadhyay is the second woman to achieve this feat.