In most villages in India, men are tasked with prime responsibilities to run the family as they were considered as the sole breadwinners and you don’t often see many women going to offices as they are forced to sit at home and do household chores. On the contrary, men go to offices, stress a lot and work without seeing clock needles to earn wages either daily, weekly or on a monthly basis.
Women have very limited opportunities to study and were always inferior to men. They never really had the liberty to do what men were doing and hence they became homemakers. However, in the male-dominated society, some women are braving against all odds to become successful in life.
Let’s learn about the story of Major General Madhuri Kanitkar. She was elevated to the rank of Lieutenant General in the Indian Army and thus becoming the third woman officer to secure the prestigious rank.
It should be noted that Madhuri Kanitkar is also the first woman paediatrician to hold the distinction of the second-highest post in the armed forces who will now wear the rank of a Lieutenant-General.
Let’s take a moment to appreciate Major General Madhuri Kanitkar for achieving a rare feat in the male-dominated stream in the Indian Army.
With this new rank, the major general was posted as Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff under the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) at the headquarters in the national capital.
In a heartfelt message, Lieutenant General Madhuri told the media reporters that even women have the opportunity to grow in this organisation. “Women have the opportunity to grow in this organisation that is fair, transparent, respected and safe for a woman.”
Madhuri Kanitkar was last posted as the dean of Armed Forces Medical College in Pune. “If there is one message I would like to share, it is to enjoy every day in uniform with childlike enthusiasm and challenge yourself to achieve the impossible. Never give up, just give back! To every woman in uniform, I can say ‘half the world is yours to take, but the full is yours to give’. So, always give your best,” she added in a statement.
The best part is that Madhuri Kanitkar and her husband Rajeev is also a lieutenant general and will be the first couple in the Indian armed forces to reach this rank. It has been learnt that Lt Gen Rajeev Kanitkar has retired from the Indian Army recently.
Despite the fact that the Indian Army was largely male-dominated in the 1980s and hardly had women-friendly policies. Needless to say, Madhuri came through with flying colours as she topped her MBBS batch at the Armed Forces Medical College with the presidential gold medal for the best outgoing student.