NEW DELHI: The Centre on Thursday announced new governors for Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Nagaland. Tamil Nadu governor Banwarilal Purohit was shifted to Punjab while Nagaland governor R N Ravi replaced Purohit, Former Deputy Chief of Army Lt Gen Gurmit Singh is the new Uttarakhand governor, a post which fell vacant after Baby Rani Maurya tendered her resignation.
Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi will hold the additional charge of Nagaland, according to a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement.
Purohit to take charge as full-time guv of Punjab
Purohit was already holding the additional charge of Punjab. In addition to his duties as the governor of Punjab, he has now been appointed as the administrator of Chandigarh. E arlier, V P Singh Badnore was the governor of Punjab and the administrator of Chandigarh. R avi, a 1976-batch IPS officer from Kerala cadre, was also the Centre’s interlocutor for Naga peace talks.
His first five years as the interlocutor are considered ‘successful’ by the government. He signed the Framework Agreement, which aimed to end the decades-old Naga issue, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 3, 2015. However, Ravi ruffled quite a few feathers during the past one-and-a-half years with some Naga bodies expressing dismay over his controversial remarks.
“The appointments will take effect from the dates they assume charge of their respective offices,” stated the Rastrapati Bhavan statement. A highly-decorated officer, Lt Gen Singh retired from the Army in February 2016 after serving nearly four decades of service, during which he held prestigious appointments of deputy chief of Army Staff, adjutant general and corps commander of strategic XV Corps that overlooks the Line of Control in Kashmir.
He was also handling China operational and military strategic issues as additional director general of Military Operations. During his stint in the Army, he was part of numerous expert groups, joint working groups, annual dialogues and China study group meetings for over a decade. A graduate from the Defence Services Staff Course, he visited China seven times for LAC meetings. He has done two M.Phils from Chennai and Indore universities besides being a research scholar at JNU.