Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Gurmit Singh (born 1 February 1956) was a Deputy Chief Staff of the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

from 2014 to 2016. Singh is serving as the 8th Governor of Uttarakhand since 2021. He retired on 31 January 2016 after nearly four decades in the army, while he was Deputy Chief of Army Staff, and adjutant general and corps commander of the strategic XV Corps that overlooks the

Line of Control The Line of Control (LoC) is a military control line between the Indian and Pakistanicontrolled parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir—a line which does not constitute a legally recognized international boundary, but ser ...

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

. He has also worked in border issues and counter-terrorism.

Life and career

Personal life and education

Singh was born on 1 February 1956 in Jalal Usman,

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

, Punjab. His father served in the Indian Army and his elder brother served in Indian Air Force. He graduated from the Defence Services Staff Course and National Defence College, has two M.Phil degrees from Chennai and

Indore Indore (; ISO 15919, ISO: , ) is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The commercial capital of the state, it has been declared as the List of cleanest cities in India, cleanest city of In ...

universities, and was a research fellow for two years on the India-China Boundary issue at the Institute of Chinese Studies,

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU; ISO: Javāharalāla Neharū Viśvavidyālaya) is a public research university located in Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university ...

during his study leave from the Indian Army.

Military career

After serving as an Infantry Company Commander and Brigade Commander, he was appointed a Brigadier General of Army Staff. He later achieved the rank of Major General and served as the Additional Director General of Military Operations and Deputy Chief of Army Staff. During his stint in the Army, he was a part of numerous expert groups, joint working groups, annual dialogues and China study group meetings for over a decade. He also served in Banbasa,

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

, while in the army.

Honours

Singh received four Presidential Awards and two commendations by the Chief of Army Staff while in the Army. He has also received the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Uttam Yudh Seva Medal,

Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM, ) is a military award of India given to recognize "distinguished service of an exceptional order" to all ranks of the armed forces. The award is a peacetime equivalent of Uttam Yuddh Seva Medal, which is a Wartime D ...

and Vishisht Seva Medal.

Governor of Uttarakhand

Under the leadership of Gurmit Singh, technology is continually reshaping the landscape of governance and public administration for the whole state. The initiatives undertaken at Raj Bhawan stand as a testament to innovation and progress. His commitment to technological excellence and underscores the broader vision of enhancing governance through intelligent, efficient, and transparent practices. Raj Bhawan is becoming a beacon of digital transformation, automation, and AI solutions. Key innovations include the AI Automation System, which has improved efficiency in tasks like document management, gate-pass issuance, and digital library operations. The Maitri Chatbot, a multilingual AI-driven assistant, further exemplifies Raj Bhawan’s commitment towards making an AI-ready Uttarakhand state. These advances demonstrate how technology may improve accessibility, transparency, and governance. Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Gurmit Singh ji also launched the program She for STEM that aims to empower young women in the State by sparking their interest and involvement in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The governor also inaugurated a digital library, a STEM dashboard, and the Lab on Wheels project dashboard at Vigyan Dham.

References

External links

* Living people Governors of Uttarakhand People from Bihar Punjabi Sikhs Military personnel from Punjab, India Indian Army officers Indian generals Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Uttam Yudh Seva Medal Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Vishisht Seva Medal 1956 births Defence Services Staff College alumni Deputy chiefs of Army Staff (India) {{India-mil-bio-stub Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya alumni