13 August 2021 - Lt Gen Madhuri Kanitkar : Soldier, Educator, Researcher
Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Medical) Principal Staff Officer at Head Quarters of Integrated Defence Staff, New Delhi A rare combination of a soldier and an innovator, meet the highest ranking lady officer in all of India’s 1.5 million-strong armed forces. She also serves as member of the esteemed Prime Minister’s Science Technology Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC). Lt General Madhuri Kanitkar is one of a kind uniformed soldier. Trained as a paediatrician, she has been serving the Indian Army for about four decades. Even as she was posted on the frontline, she kept innovating and made many changes in medical protocols to save lives. A bold and courageous officer, she does not hesitate to put across her unique thought process at any professional forum. She turned educator and served as Dean at the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune. As part of Head Quarter for Integrated Defence Staff she is a Principal Staff Officer to the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), where she has played a leading part in the war being waged against the invisible enemy in the form of Covid-19. It would be of interest to note that she is part of the team that has developed the mathematical `super model’ to predict the trajectory of this devastating pandemic. Along with the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India General Kanitkar has helped carve India’s innovation road map. She once stood in front of railway engine to get her due.
