By Jagmohan Singh Barhok
On Indian Air Force Day
The Indian Air Force form parts of one of the wings of the Indian Armed Forces. It boasts of more than 140,000 active personnel and more than 2200+ aircraft including 600 fighter Jets -Jaguar, Dassault Rafale, Sukhoi Su-30MKI and Helicopters like Apache AH-64E, CH-47 Chinook, Dhruv, Chetak, Cheetah, Mi-8, Mi-17, Rudra, Mi-26 with Apache AH-64E, CH-47 Chinook pressed into service some time ago. Tejas, manufactured in India by HAL, is another fighter jet which forms part of the Indian Air Force. It costs about 500 Crores in Indian rupee. Air Force ensures safety of the Indian airspace from foreign intrusion . The President of India heads the Indian Armed Forces.
IAF was founded on 8 October 1932 with its Headquarter at Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Marg, New Delh. President Ram Nath Kovind heads the IAF as Commander-in-Chief. Air Marshal Arjan Singh was bestowed with the honor ‘Marshal of the Indian Air Force’ by the then PM Manmohan Singh. Air Chief Marshal Dilbag Singh ( 1981-1984) & Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma are the other meritorious personalities who glorified the IAF.
The IAF enjoys a spectacular history of valor by its personnel starting with Air Commodore Mehar Singh (Born 20 March 1915). The hero of the 1971 Indo-Pak War, Flying Officer, Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon of Ludhiana, enjoys the distinction of being the only IAF officer to be bestowed with the Param Ver Chakra posthumously. On 14 December 1971 when the Pakistani aircrafts attacked Sri Nagar Air Base where Singh was posted, he took off , in spite of the odds against him, in his Gnat fighter to make it too hot, single handedly, for the enemy planes and attacked two of them before four more appeared to help out their companions. In the fight that ensued, though he was outnumbered, he showed phenomenal valor and unflinching determination to torment the enemy when they launched fresh attack with a group of world renowned American Pakistani Sabre Jets. In the fight that ensued at the tree-top level, his Gnat was shot down & he died. Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon was later honored with PVC for setting new heights of bravery in the history of IAF. There is a statue of him at Ludhiana where he was born on Jul 17, 1945.
The PVC has been awarded to 21 people, of which 14 were awarded posthumously and 16 received PVC from actions during Indo-Pakistani conflicts. Out of the 21 awardees, 20 have been from the Indian Army, and one has been from the Indian Air Force-Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon.
A PVC recipient is saluted when in ceremonial uniform, by everyone in the Army irrespective of rank .He also receives monthly stipend. Many Indian states have established individual pension rewards to honor the PVC awardees ranging between 10 Lakh to 2 Crore Indian rupee with Haryana topping the list with 2 Crore. This is Tax exempted, it is believed.
