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General
Shankar Roy Chowdhury
PVSM ADC
General Shankar Roy Chowdhury PVSM ADC
37th Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee
	In office; 1 October 1996 – 30 September 1997
President	Shankar Dayal Sharma; K. R. Narayanan
Prime Minister	P. V. Narasimha Rao; Atal Bihari Vajpayee; H. D. Deve Gowda; Inder Kumar Gujral
Preceded by	Vijai Singh Shekhawat
Succeeded by	Satish Sareen
17th Chief of Army Staff
	In office; 22 November 1994 – 30 September 1997
President	Shankar Dayal Sharma; K. R. Narayanan
Prime Minister	P. V. Narasimha Rao; Atal Bihari Vajpayee; H. D. Deve Gowda; Inder Kumar Gujral
Preceded by	Bipin Chandra Joshi
Succeeded by	Ved Prakash Malik
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
	In office; 19 August 1999 – 18 August 2005
Constituency	West Bengal
Personal details
Born	6 September 1937 (age 87); Calcutta, Bengal Province, British India
Political party	Indian National Congress
Military service
Allegiance	India
Branch/service	Indian Army
Years of service	1957–1997
Rank	General
Unit	20 Lancers
Commands	Army Training Command (ARTRAC); 16 Corps
Battles/wars	Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Bangladesh Liberation War
Service number	IC-8417
Awards	Param Vishisht Seva Medal;

General Shankar Roy Chowdhury PVSM ADC is a former Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army, and a former member of the Indian Parliament.^[2]^[3]

Early life

General Roychowdhury was born in Kolkata, West Bengal, India into the Zamindar family of Taki (India), a Bengali Kayastha family, on 6 September 1937. He received his schooling at St. Xavier's Collegiate School in Kolkata and later at Wynberg Allen School, Mussoorie and St. George's College, Mussoorie. He then became a cadet in the Joint Services Wing of the Indian Armed Forces in 1953.^[3]^[4]

Military career

General Shankar Roychowdhury was commissioned into the 20 Lancers of the Indian Army Armoured Corps on 9 June 1957, after graduating from the Indian Military Academy. He took part in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 in the Chamb-Jaurian sector, and in Jessore and Khulna during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. He commanded the 20 Lancers from 1974 to 1976, an Independent Armoured Brigade from December 1980 to July 1983, and an Armoured Division from May 1988 to May 1990. He subsequently commanded the 16 Corps in Jammu and Kashmir from 1991 to 1992.^[3]^[4]

He is a graduate of the Indian Military Academy Dehradun, National Defence Academy Pune, Defence Services Staff College, Army War College; National Defence College and also holds a Doctorate D.Litt. (Honoris CAVSA).^[2] He held several staff and instructional appointments, including that of Director General Combat Vehicles dealing with the Arjun tank.^[3]^[4]

He was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal for distinguished service to the Indian Army and the nation. He took over as GOC-in-C, Army Training Command (ARTRAC) in August 1992. He assumed charge of the Indian Army as the 18th Chief of Army Staff on 22 November 1994, upon the untimely death of his predecessor, General B.C. Joshi.^[5] He retired from the Indian Army on 30 September 1997, after 40 years of military service.^[4]^[6]

Post-retirement

After retirement from the Army, General Roychowdhury became a member of the Rajya Sabha, where he highlighted defence related issues.^[3] Since 21 January 2008, he has been a Director of Indian Metal & Ferro Alloys Ltd.^[2]^[4] His autobiography titled Officially at Peace was published by Penguin Books in 2002.^[7]

Honours and decorations

Param Vishisht Seva Medal	Samar Seva Star	Poorvi Star	Paschimi Star
Raksha Medal	Sangram Medal	Sainya Seva Medal	High Altitude Service Medal
25th Anniversary of Independence Medal	30 Years Long Service Medal	20 Years Long Service Medal	9 Years Long Service Medal

Dates of rank

Rank	Component	Date of rank
Second Lieutenant	Indian Army	9 June 1957^[8]
Lieutenant	Indian Army	9 June 1959^[9]
Captain	Indian Army	9 June 1963^[10]
Major	Indian Army	9 June 1970^[11]
Lieutenant Colonel	Indian Army	1976
Colonel	Indian Army	24 October 1982^[12]
Brigadier	Indian Army	12 April 1983^[13]
Major General	Indian Army	2 January 1988^[14]
Lieutenant General	Indian Army	1 July 1991^[15]
General (COAS)	Indian Army	22 November 1994^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 21 January 1995. p. 97.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Executive Profile of Shankar Roychowdhury (Retd.)". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 13 May 2014.^{[dead link‍]}
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "General Shankar Roy Chowdhury". Indian Army. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "General Shankar Roychowdhury". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
^ "Shankar Roy Chowdhury appointed new chief of army staff". India Today. 15 December 1995. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
^ Abidi, S. Sartaj Alam; Sharma, Satinder (1 January 2007). Services Chiefs of India. Northern Book Centre. pp. 82–. ISBN 9788172111625. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
^ Roychowdhury, Shankar (2002). Officially at peace. New Delhi: Viking. ISBN 0670885851.
^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 5 April 1958. p. 78.
^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 15 August 1959. p. 301.
^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 14 September 1963. p. 308.
^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 30 January 1971. p. 112.
^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 19 January 1985. p. 84.
^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 11 January 1986. p. 24.
^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 4 November 1989. p. 1631.
^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 16 November 1991. p. 1771.

External links

Maoists are also our fellow Indians: General Shankar Roychowdhury, IBN Live, 29 May 2013.
Ex Indian Army chief talks about Indo-Bangla ties, Hindustan Times, 16 March 2013.
Former Army chief Shankar Roychowdhury backs General VK Singh in age row, The Economic Times, 22 January 2012.

Notable publications

Military offices
Preceded by S. K. Kaul	Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee 1 October 1996 – 30 September 1997	Succeeded by Satish Sareen
Preceded by Bipin Chandra Joshi	Chief of Army Staff 1994–1997	Succeeded by Ved Prakash Malik