Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, June 10: Lieutenant General Gurmeet Singh today took over as General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 15 Corps from Lt Gen Om Prakash at Badami Bagh Cantonment headquarters.
Lt General Singh has an excellent understanding of Kashmir valley as he has a very rich track record of serving here in various capacities as commander as well as staff.
Singh commanded a brigade and division in the Valley and served as Brigadier General Staff of Chinar Corps. “As ever, the command of Chinar Corps goes into the safe hands of a very experienced General Officer and the bond of bonhomie between Army and Awaam is further going to see new vistas in times to come”, a statement issued here by the Army said.
The outgoing Army commander, Lt General Om Prakash dedicated his tenure of one year towards ushering a sustained peace in the Valley. “During his tenure, he has successfully taken the normalcy forward and reinforced the vitality of peace towards development and progress in the Valley. Alongside the sustained counter terrorist operations resulting into successful elimination of large number of terrorists, he conceived and implemented various people friendly initiatives benefiting the vast cross section of the society”, the statement said.
“Lt General Om Prakash envisioned the new vistas of synergy in the functioning of various security agencies in the Valley and put into place a joint mechanism for operations which bore excellent results. Restoration of peace in the Valley post the hanging of Afzal Guru, was one such fruit of his vision. Valley saw an increase in the militant related activities after last winters. However, due to the unrelenting efforts of Security Forces led by the Chinar Corps, incidents of militancy were minimised effectively”, the statement added.
“Lt General Om Prakash is a Soldier’s General and a great motivator. His tenure saw tremendous improvement in the relationship between the awaam and the Army due to his positive, humane and friendly approach towards the people. He undertook several initiatives for skill development and sporting activities of youth. He has been genuinely concerned for providing succour to the needy. Through his Awaami Milap programmes, he identified and addressed several needs of people particularly in far flung areas. Due to his consistent efforts and directions, the frictions between the Jawan and Awaam has been totally reduced at functional level”, the statement said.
Follow our WhatsApp channel