Odisha-Born Lt Gen Chandi Prasad Mohanty To Be Next Vice Chief Of Army Staff

Bhubaneswar: Odia Army officer Chandi Prasad Mohanty is set to become India’s Vice Chief Of Army Staff.

Mohanty is the first Army officer from Odisha who will be taking charge of the second highest post of the Indian Army after Chief of Army Staff. He will be replacing Lt Gen SK Saini, who is retiring on 31 January.

The Lieutenant General presently holds the post of General Officer Commanding in-chief, Southern Command.

A native of Jayabada village of Jagatsinghpur district, Mohanty became the first Odia to take admission in the Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) at Dehradun. Later, he joined the National Defence Academy (NDA) and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Rajput Regiment.

Mohanty, who was earlier posted as the General Officer Commanding of Uttar Bharat area, has operational experience along the borders with Pakistan and China. Apart from this, he has been active in the counter-insurgency operations in Assam and had led a multinational UN brigade to diffuse the bloodiest civil war in Congo.