When Lt. Gen Upendra Dwivedi takes over as the next Chief of the Army Staff from incumbent Gen Manoj Pande on June 30, he will have the onerous task of contributing to government’s plan to roll out theaterisation of command, expected to figure in the Ministry of Defence’s 100-day action plan.

On Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s direction ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, each of the Union Ministries have prepared its 100-day action plan which they will work for the country’s growth and development in the NDA’s third unbroken regime. The execution of blueprint to have three theatre commands will happen in instalments, with the roadmap of the initial phase may be unveiled by the Ministry as part of the 100-day plan, believe sources.

Agnipath

Lt. General Dwivedi will also have to take a deep dive into ongoing review of second batch of Agniveers, with the Army headquarter taking feedback right from the unit levels to ascertain if tweaking of Agnipath scheme is required for the betterment of force and human resource as well. The issue has also acquired political sensitivity in the new NDA government following BJP’s two allies from Bihar — JD(U) and LJP (Ram Vilas) — openly taking a stand that is not music to the ears of the government.

The ongoing modernisation of Army and absorption of the infused technology are other issues that would draw his attention during his tenure.

On Tuesday, the government ended suspense and announced that Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen Dwivedi will take over as the Chief of the land force. Dwivedi, it’s learnt, was not aware till evening that the government order on his elevation would be out hours later on Tuesday night.

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Less than a week before his retirement, Army Chief General Manoj Pande was given a one-month extension that came as a surprise to many and fuelled speculation that the government was thinking of circumventing seniority principle normally followed to hand over the baton to some other Lt. General than Dwivedi.

Having rich operational experience of the frontiers with China and Pakistan, the Vice Chief rose from the rank without any legacy backing and is known for his passionfor research projects and presentations, an officer who has served under him told businessline.

Before moving to headquarters as the Army Vice Chief in February, Lt. Gen Dwivedi served as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Northern Command from 2022-2024.

He was commissioned into 18 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles on December 15, 1984, and later commanded the unit in his distinguished career spread across nearly 40 years.

An alumnus of Sainik School, Rewa, Lt Gen Dwivedi has served in a variety of command, staff, instructional and foreign appointments.

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