General Sunith Francis Rodrigues, PVSM, VSM (19 September 1933 – 4 March 2022) was an Indian army officer who was Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army^[2][3] from 1990 to 1993 and Governor of Punjab from 2004 to 2010.

Quick Facts 26th Governor of Punjab and 13th Administrator of Chandigarh, Appointed by ...

General Sunith Francis Rodrigues PVSM, VSM
26th Governor of Punjab and 13th Administrator of Chandigarh
In office 16 November 2004 – 22 January 2010
Appointed by	President of India (then, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam)
Chief Minister	Parkash Singh Badal
Preceded by	Akhlaqur Rahman Kidwai (Additional Charge) Om Prakash Verma
Succeeded by	Shivraj Patil
32nd Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee
In office 1 August 1991 – 30 June 1993
President	R. Venkataraman Shankar Dayal Sharma
Prime Minister	P. V. Narasimha Rao
Preceded by	Surinder Mehra
Succeeded by	Laxminarayan Ramdas
15th Chief of the Army Staff (India)
In office 1 July 1990 – 30 June 1993
President	R. Venkataraman Shankar Dayal Sharma
Prime Minister	V. P. Singh Chandra Shekhar P. V. Narasimha Rao
Preceded by	Vishwa Nath Sharma
Succeeded by	Bipin Chandra Joshi
Personal details
Born	(1933-09-19)19 September 1933 Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British Raj (now Mumbai, Maharashtra, India)
Died	4 March 2022(2022-03-04) (aged 88) Panaji, Goa, India
Military service
Allegiance	India
Branch/service	Indian Army
Years of service	1952–1993
Rank	General
Unit	Regiment of Artillery
Commands	Western Army Central Army Director General Military Training (DGMT)
Battles/wars	Sino-Indian War of 1962 Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
Service number	IC-6119[1]
Awards	Param Vishisht Seva Medal Vishisht Seva Medal
Later work(s)	National Security Advisory Board Director of International Centre, Goa

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Rodrigues was born in Bombay in 1933. He was educated at St. Xavier's High School, Fort in Bombay.

Rodrigues joined the Joint Services Wing of the Indian Military Academy in 1949 and was commissioned on 28 December 1952 into the Regiment of Artillery.^[1] After serving in several field and self-propelled artillery units he applied for pilot training in the air observation post of the Artillery in 1964 and qualified as an artillery aviation pilot. Between 1964 and 1969, he logged more than 158 flying hours on observation aircraft and helicopters, including 65 hours of combat flying during the 1965 war in which his unit logged on more than 56 precision artillery fire to effect on enemy formations.

He attended the Defence Services Staff College and took over as GSO II operations in XXXIII Corps HQ in 1971. In 1972, after the war with Pakistan, he was awarded the VSM for distinguished service.^[4] He later served as a GSO I operations of a division from 1973 to 1975.

As a Brigadier, he commanded a mountain infantry brigade in a high altitude sector from 1975 to 1977. Post this, Rodrigues attended the 1978 course at Royal College of Defence Studies in the United Kingdom. He was Chief Instructor at Defence Services Staff College from 1979 to November 1981.

After his retirement Rodrigues was Director of the International Centre, Goa for nearly six years. He served two terms on the National Security Advisory Board. Since his retirement, he has been engaged in social and literary pursuits and has also delivered talks on strategic issues. He takes a keen interest in education and empowering children to achieve their potential. He was on the Executive Council of Goa University for seven years and on the Managing Committee of the Goa Chamber of Commerce. He is also a long-standing Member of the Goa Planning Board and on the Board of Governors of the Goa Institute of Management.

Rodrigues died at the Manipal Hospital in Dona Paula on 4 March 2022, at the age of 88.^[6]