Lieutenant General Kaiwalya Trivikram Parnaik (born 28 June 1953) is a retired general officer 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- ...

who is serving as Governor of Arunachal Pradesh. He is the first person from Maharashtra who take over as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Northern Command.

Early life and military career

Parnaik studied at the

St. Aloysius Senior Secondary School St. Aloysius Senior Secondary School is a co-ed catholic school located in the city of Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India. It is affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education. Established in the year 1868, it is one of the oldest schools in ...

, along with his brother A. T. Parnaik, also a

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) 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 ...

, who retired as Director General Border Roads. Later He joined Sainik School, Rewa and

National Defence Academy The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces, where cadets of the three services i.e. the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force train together before they go on ...

. He was commissioned into the 2nd Rajputana Rifles on 31 March 1972 from the

Indian Military Academy The Indian Military Academy (IMA) is one of the oldest military academies in India, and trains officers for the Indian Army. Located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, it was established in 1932 following a recommendation by a military committee set up ...

. He attended the

Defence Services Staff College , motto_lang = sa , mottoeng = ''To War with Wisdom'' , established = (as the ''Army Staff College'', Deolali) , type = Defence Service Training Institute , affiliation = , endowment = , administrative_staff = , faculty = , pres ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

. He commanded the 2nd battalion, The Rajputana Rifles (2 RajRif) in the Rajasthan Sector and in Jammu and Kashmir. He also attended the Senior Command and the Higher Command Course. On 26 January 2003, Parnaik was awarded the

Yudh Seva Medal The Yudh Seva Medal is one of India's military decorations for distinguished service during wartime. It is awarded for a high degree of distinguished service in an operational context, which includes times of war, conflict, or hostilities and may b ...

for his command of an infantry brigade during the

2001–2002 India–Pakistan standoff The 2001–2002 India–Pakistan standoff was a military standoff between India and Pakistan that resulted in the massing of troops on both sides of the border and along the Line of Control (LoC) in the region of Kashmir. This was the second maj ...

. He attended the National Defence College in 2004 as part of the 44th course.

General officer

Promoted to the rank of

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

, Parnaik was appointed General officer commanding 17 Mountain Division in

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Silig ...

. He later commanded the

Indian Military Training Team The Indian Military Training Team (IMTRAT), established since 1961–62, is a training mission of the Indian Army in Bhutan. IMTRAT is responsible for the training of the personnel of the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) and the Royal Bodyguard of Bhutan ( ...

(IMTRAT) in

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

. In 2009, Parnaik was promoted to the rank of

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) 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 ...

and appointed General officer commanding IV Corps in

Tezpur Tezpur () is a city and urban agglomeration in Sonitpur district, Assam state, India. Tezpur is located on the banks of the river Brahmaputra, northeast of Guwahati, and is the largest of the north bank cities with a population exceeding 100, ...

. After a year-long tenure as GOC IV Corps, he moved to Army HQ as the Director General Perspective Planning - DG (PP). For his tenure as GOC IV Corps, on 26 January 2010, Parnaik was awarded the

Uttam Yudh Seva Medal Uttam Yudh Seva Medal (UYSM; ''Great War Service Medal'') is one of India's military decorations for Wartime Distinguished Service. It is awarded for a high degree of distinguished services in an operational context. "Operational context" includes ...

. On 1 December 2010, Parnaik was accorded the status of Army Commander and named the Commander-designate of the Northern Command. He took over from Lieutenant General B. S. Jaswal on 1 January 2011. On 26 January 2012, he was awarded the

Param Vishisht Seva Medal Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (IAST: ) is a military award of India. It was constituted in 1960 and since then it is awarded in recognition to peace-time service of the most exceptional order and may be awarded posthumously. All ranks of the ...

. After a two-and-a-half year stint as Northern Army Commander, he retired from the Army on 30 June 2013.

Governor

Parnaik was appointed as Governor by

Droupadi Murmu Droupadi Murmu (, born 20 June 1958) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the 15th president of India since 25 July 2022. She is the first person belonging to the tribal community and also the second woman after Pratibha Patil to hol ...

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Mur ...

on 12 February 2023. He was congratulated by

Pema Khandu Pema Khandu (born 21 August 1979) is an Indian politician and the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh. He is son of former Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Dorjee Khandu. Since assuming office of chief minister in July 2016, he and his gover ...

Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh The chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh is the chief executive of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. As per the Constitution of India, the governor of Arunachal Pradesh is the state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority ...

, Chowna Mein, Deputy Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh and

Yogi Adityanath Yogi Adityanath (born on 5 June 1972 as Ajay Singh Bisht),

, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for becoming Governor.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Parnaik, Kaiwalya Trivikram Governors of Arunachal Pradesh Living people National Defence Academy (India) alumni National Defence College, India alumni 1953 births