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Nirmal Chander Vij

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General
N C Vij
PVSM, UYSM, AVSM
20th Chief of the Army Staff
In office
1 February 2005 – 31 August 2007
PresidentA. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Prime MinisterManmohan Singh
Preceded bySundararajan Padmanabhan
Succeeded byJ. J. Singh
Personal details
Born (1943-01-03) 3 January 1943 (age 81)
Jammu, State of Jammu and Kashmir, British Raj
(now in Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India)
Awards Param Vishisht Seva Medal
Uttam Yudh Seva Medal
Ati Vishisht Seva Medal
Military service
Allegiance India
Branch/service Indian Army
Years of service1962–2005
Rank General
UnitDogra Regiment
Commands Southern Army
IV Corps
XXI Corps

General Nirmal Chander Vij PVSM, UYSM, AVSM (born 3 January 1943, in Jammu) was the 20th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army. He held the office from 1 January 2003 to 31 January 2005.[2][3]

Early life and education

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General Vij was born on 3 January 1943[4] at Jammu. He completed his studies at the SRML Higher Secondary School, Jammu and joined the National Defence Academy (NDA) in 1959. He was commissioned into the Dogra Regiment on 11 December 1962.[citation needed]

Military career

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Within weeks of his commissioning, he saw action in the Walong sector in the 1962 Indo-China War. Since then he has served in the eastern sector six times, the last time being as the General officer commanding IV Corps. Vij has served as the General staff officer of an infantry division, a director in the Military Operations Directorate as a colonel and deputy director general of perspective planning (strategic planning) as a brigadier at Army HQ in New Delhi.[3][5]

Vij served as the Major General General Staff (MGGS) at the Western Command in Chandimandir, Chandigarh (Punjab). During the 1999 Kargil War, he served as the Director General Military Operations (DGMO). In 1999, he broke the military tradition to brief members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on operations in Kargil. [6] He was criticized for appearing, in his professional capacity before a group of senior BJP leaders, and briefing them.[7]

For his services as the DGMO, he was awarded[when?] the Uttam Yudh Seva Medal. He was involved was the planning and execution of Operation Khukri – to extricate trapped Indian peacekeeping troops in Sierra Leone. The formations he has commanded include a mountain brigade involved in active counter-insurgency operations in the north east, an elite RAPID (Reorganised Army Plains Infantry Division) unit, the XXI Strike Corps based at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh[8] and the IV Corps based at Tezpur, Assam. He is also a recipient of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM). On 1 October 2000, Vij was appointed as the GOC of Southern Command at Pune and led the army's rescue efforts during the 2001 Gujarat earthquake. In October 2001, he was appointed as the Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS) at New Delhi and in January 2002, he was appointed as the 10th Colonel of the Dogra Regiment and the Dogra Scouts.

He was appointed as the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) on 1 January 2005. He is married to Rita Vij and they have a son, Nalin, who is a software engineer in the United States.[3] General Vij retired on 31 January 2005, after completing more than 42 years service.

Post retirement

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He was the founder-Vice Chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority, in 2005, with an equivalent rank of a Union Minister of State.[9] He was the Director of the Vivekananda International Foundation think tank in New Delhi. In 2021, his book "The Kashmir Conundrum: The Quest for Peace in a Troubled Land" was published by Harper Collins.[10][11]

Recent controversy

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Builders by name Adarsh Housing Cooperative Society have been constructing buildings in the prime government land in Mumbai. The permission for construction on this government land has been taken in name of providing the affordable accommodation to war widows and the land had been reserved for this purpose. However, many politicians, top military officials, other bureaucrats and their relatives have taken the ownership of the flats.[12] Ashok Chavan, former chief minister of Maharashtra, resigned under pressure for his role in this scam. CBI is probing the scam. Gen N C Vij along with two other former military chiefs – General Deepak Kapoor, and Admiral Madhvendra Singh offered to give up their apartments.[13]

Awards

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Param Vishisht Seva Medal Uttam Yudh Seva Medal
Vishisht Seva Medal Samanya Seva Medal Special Service Medal Paschimi Star
Operation Vijay Star Siachen Glacier Medal Raksha Medal Sangram Medal
Operation Vijay Medal Sainya Seva Medal High Altitude Service Medal 50th Anniversary of Independence Medal
25th Anniversary of Independence Medal 30 Years Long Service Medal 20 Years Long Service Medal 9 Years Long Service Medal

Dates of rank

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Insignia Rank Component Date of rank
Second Lieutenant Indian Army 11 December 1962[14]
Lieutenant Indian Army 11 December 1964[15]
Captain Indian Army 11 December 1968[16]
Major Indian Army 11 December 1975[17]
Lieutenant-Colonel Indian Army 20 October 1982[18]
Colonel Indian Army 28 May 1986
Brigadier Indian Army 25 September 1990[19]
Major General Indian Army 1 October 1993[20]
Lieutenant-General Indian Army 1 November 1996 (seniority from 3 June 1996)[21]
General
(COAS)		 Indian Army 1 January 2003[22]

References

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  1. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence". The Gazette of India. 6 August 2005. p. 1366.
  2. ^ "Gen NC Vij Takes Over As New Chief Of Army Staff". Financial Express. 1 January 2003. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
  3. ^ a b c "General Nirmal Chander Vij, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM (31 Dec 2002 to 31 Jan 2005)". Indian Army. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
  4. ^ Shankar Prasad, The Gallant Dogras: An Illustrated History of the Dogra Regiment (Lancer Publishers, 2005) p433
  5. ^ Press Trust of India. "N C Vij appointed new army chief". Rediff. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
  6. ^ DUTTA, SUJAN (1 February 2005). "Army baton in hand, "Tiger" roars". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
  7. ^ Swami, Praveen (13 August 1999). "Now, the cover-up". Frontline. The Hindu Group. Archived from the original on 2 July 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. ^ "Of commanders and their command". 9 December 2006. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Gen. N.C.Vij PVSM, UYSM, AVSM (Retd) Vice Chairman". National Disaster Management Agency. Archived from the original on 7 August 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
  10. ^ "New book by Army ex-chief Gen. Vij offers 'complete picture', way forward on Jammu & Kashmir". ThePrint. 23 December 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  11. ^ "Former Army Chief Gen(retd) NC Vij Claims Jammu And Kashmir To Be Free Of Militancy In 8-10 Years". Outlook India. 22 December 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  12. ^ "Maha CM link in Adarsh Housing scam". 28 October 2010. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  13. ^ "Army, Navy chiefs offer to return flats". The Times Of India. 30 October 2010. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  14. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 22 June 1963. p. 210.
  15. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 27 February 1965. p. 109.
  16. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 28 June 1969. p. 601.
  17. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 6 November 1976. p. 1534.
  18. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 11 June 1983. p. 898.
  19. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 22 August 1992. p. 1446.
  20. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 23 December 1995. p. 1775.
  21. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 31 May 1997. p. 794.
  22. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 10 May 2003. p. 632.
Military offices
Preceded by Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee
2004-2005 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief of Army Staff
2003–2005 		Succeeded by
Preceded by General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command
2000–2001 		Succeeded by
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