GUWAHATI: Lt Gen Rana Pratap Kalita has been appointed as the General Officer Commanding of Nagaland’s Dimapur-based 3 Corps.
He is the first from Assam and second from the Northeast to don the corps commander’s mantle. Lt Gen KH Singh (retd) of Manipur was the first corps commander from the region. Both are alumni of the Sainik School, Goalpara in Assam.
Prior to his new appointment, Lt Gen Kalita was serving as the Chief of Staff in Eastern Command. Commissioned in the 9 Kumaon Regiment in 1984, he was elevated to the rank of lieutenant general in March last year.
A worthy son of Assam, he is decorated with Sena Medal and Vishisht Seva Medal. The general was born in Rangia in Lower Assam to a noted teacher, Jogendra Kalita, and Renu Kalita.
It was he whom the government had entrusted with the task of arranging the funeral of former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and he performed the job smoothly.