V. K. Singh: Difference between revisions

General Vijay Kumar Singh
File:Gen. V. K. Singh.jpg The Chief at a function in St. Paul's School, Darjeeling on November 2010
Born	10 May 1951 Khadki Military Hospital, Pune, India
Allegiance	India
Service/branch	Indian Army
Years of service	1970–present
Rank	General
Unit	2 Rajput
Commands	Honorary Aide-De-Camp to the President of India Colonel of The Rajput Regiment Honorary Colonel of The Brigade of Guards GOC-in-C Eastern Command GOC Kharga Corps GOC Rastriya Rifles Force Commander Infantry Brigade CO 2 Rajput (Kali Chindi)
Battles/wars	Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, Operation Pawan
Awards	Param Vishisht Seva Medal Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Yudh Seva Medal

General Vijay Kumar Singh PVSM, AVSM, YSM, ADC is the 26th General of the Indian Army and currently the Chief of Army Staff.

Vijay Kumar Singh comes from Bapora village in Bhiwani district in the Indian state of Haryana. Singh is a third-generation officer.^[1] His father was a Colonel in the Indian Army and grandfather a senior Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO). Singh was educted at Birla Public School, Pilani, Rajasthan.^[2]

Singh was commissioned into the 2nd Battalion of The Rajput Regiment (Kali Chindi) on 14 June 1970. He went on to command the same unit when it was positioned along the Line of Control with Pakistan.^{[citation needed]}

He graduated from the Defence Services Staff College as a honours graduate of the United States Army Infantry School, a graduate of the Rangers Course at Fort Benning and the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. In the US for the Rangers course, he came first in combat operations.^{[verification needed]}

Singh is experienced in counter insurgency operations and high altitude operations. He has also seen action in the 1971 Bangladesh war. During his career he has served in various positions:

• Military Operations Directorate at the Army Headquarters.
• Brigadier General Staff of a Corps during 'Operation Parakram' when Indian troops were mobilised on the border in the wake of the attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001.
• Commanded^[1] Ambala-based 2 Corps and Jalandhar based 11 Corps in Punjab state.
• Instructor in the Indian Military Training Team (IMTRAT) headquarters in Bhutan.

Singh was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) for distinguished service while commanding a counter-insurgency force.^{[citation needed]}

He became Chief of Army Staff on 31 March 2010 and is due for retirement on 31 May 2012.^{[citation needed]}

Singh was born on 10 May 1951 in Military Hospital at Khadki in Pune where his father was posted as a Major in Indian Army. As required by Army regulations, the father informed his army unit the birth of his son, and the son's date of birth was recorded in the service records of the father, Major Jagat Singh, as 10 May 1951.^[3]

As a fourteen year old boy, Singh wrote his year of birth as 1950 in his application form for admission to the National Defence Academy (NDA) in 1965. His father provided the NDA with documentation (a certificate from 14 Rajput Regiment's commanding officer certifying Vijay Kumar Singh's date of birth as 10 May 1951 as per service records of the father) on 3 August 1965 correcting the mistake much before VK Singh took the NDA's written exam in June 1966.^[3][4] The Indian Military Academy (IMA) where he received training also corrected his date of birth as 10 May 1951 when he submitted documentary evidence. However, the Military Secretary branch recorded his date of birth as 10 May 1950 on the basis of his application form to NDA. The records in Adjutant General (AG) Branch of the Indian Army, which is the official record keeper of the army, show Singh's date of birth as 10 May 1951. Singh has repeatedly asked for the date to be corrected by the Military Secretary branch.

The dispute is not whether he was born in 1951 but rather whether his mistake of writing 1950 in NDA admission form can be corrected and therefore whether his retirement date can be corrected according to his correct date of birth, namely, 10 May 1951. The Military Secretary's branch says that the rules do not permit a "change" in the date. Singh claims that he is not asking for a "change" in his date of birth and that he is asking the Military Secretary branch to "correct" its records as per the AG Branch.^[4][5]

If his date of birth is recognized as 10 May 1950, he would retire on 31 May 2012 but if it is recognized as 10 May 1951, he would retire on 31 March 2013 (after completing three years as Chief of Army Staff). This would affect the line of succession in terms of which a Lieutenant General is promoted in his place.

In July 2011 the Defence Minister determined that his date of birth was 10 May 1950. Singh made a statutory representation to the Defence Minister in August 2011 and asked for a review of the decision. The Defence Minister replied on 30 December 2011 rejecting Singh’s representation. On 16 January 2012, Singh filed an appeal in the Supreme Court of India^[4][5] in which he stated that "No authority, while rejecting his plea for treating his date of birth as 10.5.1951, has ever doubted the birth certificate of the petitioner" and that "being a highly decorated officer, he had received all his awards, decorations and promotions as per the date of birth being 10.5.1951."Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page).

On 10 February 2012 the Supreme Court refused to intervene and Singh withdrew his writ. The Court noted that there was no dispute regarding his actual date of birth and that the matter being contested was regarding how that had been recorded. It ruled that Singh had on three occasions accepted the misrecorded date and therefore there was case to be answer.Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page).

On 11 March 2011, Singh was inducted into the United States Army War College (Class of 2001 graduate) International Fellows Hall of Fame. He is the 33rd International Fellow and the first Indian Armed Forces officer to be inducted.^{[citation needed]}

• Param Vishisht Seva Medal
• Ati Vishisht Seva Medal
• Yudh Seva Medal for his distinguished service during Operation Pawan^[1]
• Ranger Tab

Singh appeared in the Hindi movie, Prahaar: The Final Attack.^{[citation needed]}

• List of Chiefs of Army Staff

• General V. K. Singh, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, ADC in the Indian Army official website

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