Lt General Sigdel named Acting CoAS of Nepal Army

KATHMANDU: The government has named Liutenant General Ashok Raj Sigdel as the officiating chief of the Nepal Army.

Sigdel will assume the army leadership as the Acting Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) on August 8 when the incumbent CoAS Prabhu Ram Sharma begins his customary one-month home leave before his scheduled retirement on September 9. Sigdel will be formally appointed as the Chief of Army Staff on September 9.

A cabinet meeting held on Monday took the decision, according to a minister.

General Sigdel is a military officer who has never been involved in controversy and never proceeds with any task without thorough study. He has also built a reputation as a strategist within the army.

Sigdel has worked in the Directorate General of Military Operations, Inspection Department, Welfare Directorate, Policy and Planning Department, among others. He was promoted to Lieutenant General on December 15 last year. He has undergone short-term, medium-term, and long-term training. He was ranked first in the Higher Command and Management training required to become the Chief of Army Staff.

Within the army, Sigdel is known as a general who speaks little, encourages work, doesn’t engage in nepotism or factionalism, and prefers to do all work himself. Wherever Sharma was posted, he worked on improving the system. Therefore, one general suggested that corruption within the army would be eliminated once Sharma takes leadership.

List of Army Chiefs after the Political Change of 1990

1. Kiran Shumsher Rana
2. Toran Shumsher JBR
3. Nir Shumsher JBR
4. Surendra Bahadur Shah
5. Singh Bahadur Basnyat
6. Gun Shumsher JBR
7. Singh Pratap Shah
8. Arjun Narsingh Rana
9. Sachit Shumsher JBR
10. Gadul Shumsher JBR
11. Dharmapal Barsingh Thapa
12. Prajwal Shumsher JBR
13. Pyar Jung Thapa
14. Rookmangud Katawal
15. Chhatraman Singh Gurung
16. Gaurav Shumsher JBR
17. Rajendra Chhetri
18. Purna Chandra Thapa
19. Prabhu Ram Sharma