A day after the National Commission for Women (NCW) expressed its displeasure over the reported remarks of the army vice-chief on the presence of women in the force, the women’s panel today said there was a need for gender sensitisation of the forces.Describing the statement made by army vice chief Lt Gen K Pattabhiraman that the force could do without women as ‘‘very irresponsible’’, NCW chairperson Girija Vyas said, ‘‘on such a policy matter (whether there should be women in the forces), it is for the government to decide and not for the chief or vice-chief of the army to comment upon.’’Asserting that there should be gender sensitisation of the forces, Vyas said, ‘‘there is need to take steps to make our forces more gender sensitive and measures should also be taken to deal with the issue of stress among the army personnel.’’ However, she said she was happy that Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee had taken note of the issue and said the Army needs more women officers.Taking a strong view of Rakhi Sawant’s complaint of sexual assault against pop singer Mika, the NCW sought footage of the party where the incident took place to explore the possibility of action against those who made slight of the ‘‘forced kiss’’. ‘‘We have asked TV channels to send us footage as we want to identify the guests who made fun of the incident. Action should be taken against all those who made slight of it,’’ Vyas said.
