Central Command (India)

The Central Command of the Indian Army is one of the seven operational commands of the army. It is based at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Lt General Iqroop Singh Ghuman is the present General Officer Commanding-in-Chief.

Central Command
Central Command's insignia today
Active1942–1946
1 May 1963[1] – Present
Country India
Branch Indian Army
TypeCommand
Garrison/HQLucknow, Uttar Pradesh
Commanders
Current
commander		Lt General Iqroop Singh Ghuman, PVSM, AVSM[2][3]

History

Pre WW-II

Central Command was first established in 1942 during World War II and then disbanded in 1946.[4] Southern Command was responsible for most of the training activities for Indian Army until Central Command was formed in April 1942 which took over the responsibility of some of the training areas.[5]

Post 1962 Indo-China war

With its HQ at Lucknow the Command was re-established on 1 May 1963 due to the Sino-Indian War of 1962. Lt Gen K Bahadur Singh was the first Army Commander of the new Central Command. Prior to that date Lucknow had been the headquarters of the Eastern Command.[6][7]

Area and formations

Central Commands spans across seven state of India:[1]

  1. Uttar Pradesh
  2. Uttarakhand
  3. Madhya Pradesh
  4. Chhattisgarh
  5. Bihar
  6. Jharkhand
  7. Odisha

There are two Static Area Formations and one Mountain Division under Central Command:[8]

  1. Uttar Bharat Area headquartered at Bareilly
  2. Madhya Bharat Area headquartered at Jabalpur
  3. 6 Mountain Division at Bareilly

18 Regimental Centres and Large number of logistic and training establishments come under Central Command. The responsibility for the central sector of the Western border with Pakistan also lies with Central Command.[9] Almost half of the 62 cantonments in India lie within the Central Command's theatre.[10]

Rescue operations during 2013 North India floods

During 2013 North India floods in its rescue operations "Operation Surya Hope" in Uttarakhand, the Central Command mobilised over 8,000 troops for rescue and relief operations for stranded people on all four different axis of Rishikesh-Uttarkashi-Harsil-Gangotri axis, Rudraprayag-Kedarnath axis, Joshimath-Badrinath axis and Dharchula-Tawaghat axis in Pithoragarh district. Under operation Ganga, the Army evacuated 1,150 persons from Harsil area; 6,000 from Joshimath and 700 from Tawaghat area. Army operations in the 40,000 square kilometres were led by Lieutenant General Anil Chait, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Central Command.[11][12]

Commanders prior to Independence

Commanders included:[4]

List of Commanders

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Central Command

Rank Name Appointment Date Left Office Unit of Commission References
Lieutenant General Kanwar Bahadur Singh May 1963 August 1966 19th Hyderabad Regiment (presently Kumaon Regiment)
Lieutenant General Joginder Singh Dhillon August 1966 August 1970 Bengal Sappers
Lieutenant General P S Bhagat August 1970 Jun 1972 Bombay Sappers
Lieutenant General H K Sibal June 1972 November 1973 5 Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force)
Lieutenant General K K Singh November 1973 March 1975 16th Light Cavalry [13]
Lieutenant General J S Nakai April 1975 March 1979 Regiment of Artillery [14]
Lieutenant General R D Hira April 1979 June 1980 11 Gorkha Rifles
Lieutenant General WAG Pinto July 1980 June 1982 Brigade of the Guards
Lieutenant General H C Dutta July 1982 November 1983 8 Gorkha Rifles
Lieutenant General Bhupinder Singh December 1983 September 1985 Regiment of Artillery
Lieutenant General K K Hazari October 1985 January 1986 Regiment of Artillery
Lieutenant General K B Mehta February 1986 December 1987 Brigade of the Guards
Lieutenant General Sami Khan January 1988 March 1989 4 Madras
Lieutenant General S F Rodrigues April 1989 October 1989 Regiment of Artillery
Lieutenant General F. N. Billimoria November 1989 June 1991 2/5 Gorkha Rifles
Lieutenant General Vijai Singh July 1991 February 1992 8th Light Cavalry
Lieutenant General Y N Sharma March 1992 March 1994 The Grenadiers
Lieutenant General Arun Gautam April 1994 April 1995 Armoured Corps
Lieutenant General R K Gulati April 1995 May 1996 9th Deccan Horse
Lieutenant General Chandra Sekhar June 1996 September 1997 2/4 Gorkha Rifles [15]
Lieutenant General Surjit Singh October 1997 September 2000 Dogra Regiment [16]
Lieutenant General P S Joshi October 2000 September 2001 1/8 Gorkha Rifles [17]
Lieutenant General D S Chauhan October 2001 December 2003 Madras Regiment [18]
Lieutenant General Ram Subramanyam January 2004 December 2005 Corps of Engineers [19]
Lieutenant General O P Nandrajog January 2006 February 2008 Brigade of the Guards [20]
Lieutenant General H S Panag March 2008 December 2008 Mechanised Infantry Regiment [21]
Lieutenant General J K Mohanty January 2009 February 2010 Dogra Regiment
Lieutenant General Vijay Kumar Ahluwalia March 2010 February 2012 Regiment of Artillery
Lieutenant General Anil Chait March 2012 June 2013 Armoured Corps [22]
Lieutenant General Rajan Bakhshi July 2013 November 2015 Poona Horse [23]
Lieutenant General Balwant Singh Negi December 2015 30 September 2018 Assam Regiment [24]
Lieutenant General Abhay Krishna 1 October 2018 30 September 2019 Rajputana Rifles [25]
Lieutenant General Iqroop Singh Ghuman 1 October 2019 Incumbent Brigade of The Guards [26]

See also

Operation Surya Hope

References
  1. "Army pays poignant tributes to its martyrs & bravehearts". The Times of India. 3 May 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  2. "Lt-General IS Ghuman assumes charge as Commander of Central Command of Indian Army". 2 October 2019.
  3. "Lt Gen Ghuman takes over as GOC-in-C of Central Command". 2 October 2019.
  4. Army Commands Archived 5 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Alan Jeffreys; Patrick Rose (1 August 2012). The Indian Army 1939–47 Experience and Development. Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 9781409456537. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  6. "Central Command Raising Day concludes". The Times of India. 3 May 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  7. Subodh Kapoor (2002). The Indian Encyclopaedia: India (Central Provinces)-Indology. Genesis Publishing Pvt Ltd. p. 3372. ISBN 9788177552683. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  8. Bharat Verma; G. M. Hiranandani; B. K. Pandey (2008). Indian Armed Forces. Lancer Publishers. p. 16. ISBN 9780979617423. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  9. "Commands of the Indian Army". Archived from the original on 2 June 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  10. Mukund Padmanabhan (11 May 2003). "Central Command's novel initiative". The Hindu. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  11. "Army rescues over 7,000 stranded persons". The Times of India. 19 June 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  12. "2,500 additional troops deployed for rescue operations". The Times of India. 21 June 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  13. "Lieutenant General Khem Karan Singh, MVC: A great military leader". defenceinfo.com.
  14. "General Nakai laid to rest with service honours". The Tribune.
  15. "Padmanabhan may be new Army Chief". The Tribune.
  16. "Shortage of officers may continue". The Tribune.
  17. "First IDS chief Lt Gen Joshi dies". The Times of India.
  18. "New Army Vice-Chief". The Hindu.
  19. "Lt-Gen Subramanyam is new GOC-in-C". The Times of India.
  20. "Lt Gen Nandrajog takes over as Central Command GOC-in-C". Outlook.
  21. "Senior Appointments : Army". pib.nic.in. PIB.
  22. "LIEUTENANT GENERAL ANIL CHAIT TAKES OVER AS GOC-IN-C, CENTRAL COMMAND". Indian Army.
  23. "Lt Gen Rajan Bakhshi takes over as GOC-in-C, Central Command". Indian Defence Review.
  24. "Lt Gen BS Negi appointed Central Command's new GOC-in-C (designate)". The Times of India.
  25. "Lt Gen Abhay Krishna takes over as GOC-in-Chief of Central Command". The Times of India.
  26. Gurung, Shaurya Karanbir. "Naravane appointed as new Vice Chief of Indian Army, four army commanders appointed". The Economic Times. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
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