The Central Command of the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four ...

is one of the seven operational commands of the army. It is based at

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and divisio ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...

. Lt General Yogendra Dimri is the present General Officer Commanding-in-Chief.

History

Second World War

Central Command was first established in 1942 during World War II and then disbanded in 1946.Army Commands

Southern Command Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

was responsible for most of the training activities for Indian Army until Central Command was formed in April 1942 which took over the responsibility of some of the training areas.

Post 1962 Indo-China war

With its HQ at

the Command was re-established on 1 May 1963 due to the Sino-Indian War of 1962. Lt Gen K Bahadur Singh was the first Army Commander of the new Central Command. Prior to that date

had been the headquarters of the Eastern Command.

Rescue operations during 2013 North India floods

During

2013 North India floods In June 2013, a mid-day cloudburst centered on the North Indian state of Uttarakhand caused devastating floods and landslides, becoming the country's worst natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami. The rainfall received that month was far great ...

in its rescue operations "Operation Surya Hope" in

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

, the Central Command mobilised over 8,000 troops for rescue and relief operations for stranded people on all four different axis of Rishikesh-Uttarkashi-Harsil-Gangotri axis, Rudraprayag-Kedarnath axis, Joshimath-Badrinath axis and Dharchula-Tawaghat axis in Pithoragarh district. Under operation Ganga, the Army evacuated 1,150 persons from Harsil area; 6,000 from Joshimath and 700 from Tawaghat area. Army operations in the 40,000 square kilometres were led by Lieutenant General Anil Chait, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Central Command.

Structure

Central Command's Area Of Responsibility (AOR) covers eight states of India:

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peak ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital city, capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar, and Rewa, India, Rewa being the othe ...

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Pra ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of Wes ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . ...

and

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sc ...

. 18 Regimental Centres and a large number of logistic and training establishments come under Central Command. The responsibility for the central sector of the Western border with

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-la ...

also lies with Central Command. Almost half of the 62

cantonment A cantonment (, , or ) is a military quarters. In Bangladesh, India and other parts of South Asia, a ''cantonment'' refers to a permanent military station (a term from the colonial-era). In United States military parlance, a cantonment is, essent ...

s in India lie within the Central Command's theatre. There are two Static Area Formations:- Uttar Bharat Area and Madhya Bharat Area. Central Command earlier used to act as strategic reserve but now it is looking after Uttarakhand sector of Sino-Indian border.

Precursors

Following is the list of precursors to the Western Command and their commanders:

Central Command (1942–1946)

List of GOC-in-C of Central Command (1963–present)

References

External links

Central Command @ globalsecurity.org
{{Military of India Commands of the Indian Army