Chandigarh, June 24
Lieut-Gen S.S. Mehta, former General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, is joining the Board of Trustees of The Tribune as a member. He was chosen unanimously as a new member by the trust at a meeting presided over by the president, Mr R.S. Talwar, in New Delhi yesterday.
A highly decorated cavalry officer, he had put in 41 years of service before hanging up his uniform in January 2004.
Post retirement, he served as the director-general of the Confederation of Indian Industries from May 2006 to April 2008. His other important assignments include GOC-in-C of the Army Training Command, Shimla, Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Planning and Systems) at Army Headquarters and member of the National Security Advisory Board. At present, he is the vice-chairman, environment committee, for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
Commissioned into 63 Cavalry in December 1962, General Mehta has a rich command, staff and instructional experience. He led an independent Armoured Squadron in operations during the 1971 war with Pakistan, where he was mentioned-in-despatches. He commanded 63 Cavalry, an Armoured Division and a Strike Corps in the Western Sector.
General Mehta had been an instructor at the Higher Command Wing of the Army War College, Mhow, the Intelligence School, School of Artillery and Defence Services Staff College. He also served as the Additional Director-General Military Operations at Army Headquarters. He was the Services member of the National Task Force on information technology, the Army member of the Group of Ministers’ Task Force on review of defence management and also chaired an Army study on logistics for the 21st century.
A Master of Science in defence studies and a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, he attended the nuclear, biological and chemical defence course
at the Timoshenko Academy in Moscow and the United States Army War College Course in 1990-91. He is a recipient of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and Bar and Vishisht Seva Medal.
As principal advisor to the CII from March 2004 to April 2006, he headed the skills development and information risk management initiatives and provided oversight in IT, ITES, telecom broadband and business association sectors. During his tenure with the CII, to harness the youth energy, he launched a skills development initiative to make India the world’s “skills capital”.
General Mehta is also associated with the UK-India High Technology Cooperation Group, Council of Indian Council of World Affairs, UGC’s standing committee on Universities with Potential for Excellence, Sarvodaya International Trust, and the Aspen India Institute.
He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Defence Policy Studies and is on the governing council of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi, and the management board of Yadavindra Public School, Mohali.
