J J Singh appointed Arunachal Pradesh Governor

NEW DELHI: Former Army chief Gen J J Singh, who retired more than three months ago, was today appointed Governor of Arunachal Pradesh in the sensitive north east, making him the sixth such top defence official to occupy the gubernatorial post now.

The appointment, made by President Pratibha Patil, will be with effect from the date Singh assumes charge of his office, a Rashtrapati Bhawan communique said.

He succeeds K Sankaranarayanan, who as Nagaland Governor is holding additional charge of Arunachal Pradesh.

62-year-old Joginder Jaswant Singh, who retired as Army chief in September last after 43 years in service, is the sixth from the army to hold the post of a Governor of a state now.

The others are General S F Rodrigues (Punjab), Lt Gen S K Sinha (Jammu and Kashmir), Lt Gen Ajay Singh (Assam), Lt Gen M M Lakhera (Mizoram) and Lt Gen K M Seth (Chattisgarh), all retired from service.

During his tenure as army chief, Singh spoke with empathy on the issue of human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir and acted promptly on complaints against security forces personnel in this regard whenever they cropped up.