Mean manoeuvre

Retired officers blame the Army top brass for the mass failure of women cadets at OTA Chennai, which came soon after women were allowed permanent commission

- PRADIP R. SAGAR 

SYSTEM FAILURE The Army is downplaying the significance of the high failure rate of women cadets at OTA

THE PASSING OUT parade at Officers Training Academy (OTA) Chennai in March was marred by an unusually high failure rate of women cadets. The number of women cadets failing the physical tests went up soon after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of permanent commission to female officers in the armed forces.

Since 1992, when women were allowed to serve in the military through Short Service Commission (SSC) at OTA, they have nearly always cleared their physical tests— except last year, when three cadets failed the mandatory tests. However, in the last OTA batch, at least 13 women failed the horizontal rope test, while three others could not complete their 5km running task. And, perhaps for the first time, two women are likely to be withdrawn from the academy, after failing to clear the training course in two terms. Every cadet gets a maximum of two chances to complete the training.

“It is an aberration and a matter of serious concern,” said Lieutenant General (retd) Bobby Mathew, who was commandant of OTA Chennai. “Normally, relegation is way below 10 per cent of a batch and that, too, mostly happens with gentlemen cadets. Women cadets usually fail on medical or disciplinary grounds.”