lieutenant General Santosh Kumar Upadhya would be the new commandant of the prestigious Indian Military Academy (IMA). He would assume the charge on Monday (December 26). lt General Upadhya would be the 47th Commandant of the IMA, Dehradun. On Sunday, the present IMA Commandant lt Gen SK Saini was accorded a farewell by the officers and staff members of the IMA. lt General Saini has been transferred to Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh where he would command the Ninth Corps of Indian Army, also called the Rising Star corps.
A highly decorated soldier, lt Gen Upadhya is an alumnus of National Defence Academy (NDA) and Indian Military Academy (IMA). After passing out from IMA in December 1981 he was commissioned into “The 13th Battalion the Garhwal Rifles’’. In his more than three decades long career lt Gen Upadhya has done operation service in Sri lanka, North East India, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab. He is a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, College of Defence Management and National Defence College and recipient of Sena Medal (Distinguished), Vishisht Seva Medal, Chief of Army Staff Commendation Card and GOC-in-C’s Commendation Card. Apart from commanding his Battalion, a Brigade and a Division, he has held varied staff and instructional appointments and twice served with the United Nations (UN) in Rwanda and Cote D’lvoire.
The new IMA Commandant has a rich experience of raising new organizations. He raised the Officers Training Academy (OTA) Gaya and then was at the helm of an Infantry Division as part of Mountain Strike Corps. He was Additional Director General, Procurement at Army HQ, New Delhi, before getting transferred to the present appointment.
