NFMC AGM 2026
The jubilation of interacting with like-minded Veterans is indeed priceless, as was evident during the overwhelming gatherings of Veterans and Veer Naris during the Veterans Day events in early Jan this year. The 5th Veterans Day Parade made NFMC showcase the Solidarity and Bonhomie Of Mumbai Veterans of all three services. The Cricket Tournament, and the Octogenarians and Veer Naris Gala at IMSC, not only brought-in the Veterans close together but acted as a bridge to bring the serving and retired fraternity closer together on the same pedestal. One such event that Veterans eagerly look forward-to is the Annual General Meeting, conducted middle of the Year.
The Annual General Meeting of the Naval Veterans of Mumbai Chapter at IMSC Colaba, has always been a much awaited and sought after affair organised in May / June every year. This year it was planned for Sunday 07 Jun, the NF AGM/ GCM/ Sammanvay having been accomplished at Kochi on 20/21 Apr 2026.
Early Bells for the AGM were sounded on 9th Feb 2026 with a tentative schedule of AGM 07th Jun, with Previous yrs Balance Sheet and MoM as attachments. Nominations were invited for the post of Hon. Secy, as Capt Rajinder Dutta, had completed his two terms as Hon Secy. Since no fresh nominations had been received, it was reflective of the efficient work ethics of the Core Committee resulting in his re-election for another term of 3 yrs each.
PROCEEDINGS
The Annual General Body meeting of the Navy Foundation Mumbai Chapter was held at 1100 hrs. on Sunday 07 Jun 2026 in the Sea-Lounge of IMSC and was attended by 265 members (including spouses and Veer Naris). It was heartening to see RAdm & Mrs V Balachandran drive down from Pune; Cdr & Mrs Brian Steven from Nasik; another Veteran drove down 350 kms from South Maharashtra. Hard copies of Quarter Deck 2025 along with copies of Sagar Samvad & Family Log books were made available to Veterans and Veer Naries at the IMSC Lounge. There were Kiosks from Navpen, Kunjali and Angre to address the issues of Pensions for Veterans and Veer Naris, Veterans ID Cards and the dependent cards. The PLD and Lunch to follow, post AGM was exquisite, sumptuous and multi-cuisine, topped up with Kulfi and Faluda and drew much appreciation from the Veterans and Veer Naris.
The following Core Committee & Co-opted members of NFMC and a large quorum of 265 members, including our former CNS Adm Vijai Singh Shekhawat, PVSM, AVSM, VrC; VAdm Parvesh Jaitly, PVSM, AVSM, VSM; VAdm IC Rao, PVSM, AVSM; VAdm R Swaminathan, AVSM, NM , RAdm PK Sinha, AVSM, VSM; RAdm & Mrs V Balachandran, AVSM, NM, VSM, and RAdm RC Kochhar, AVSM, NM, VSM and attended the AGM. : --
a) Cdr Vijay Vadhera,NM(G) ----------President
b) Capt Rajinder Dutta -------------------- Hon. Secy
c) LCdr. FarokhTarapore, VSM ------------Hon. Treasurer
d) Cdr Nozar Engineer --------- Rep Western Suburbs
e) Dr Kanta Mukherji ----------------Rep Western Suburbs
f) Cdr Tony Chacko -----------------Rep Western Suburbs
g) Cmde Anand Singh --------------Rep Navi Mumbai
h) Cdr Man Singh ---------------------Rep Navi Mumbai
i) Cdr GC Rai --------------------------Rep Navi Mumbai
j) Cdr Saorabh Agarwal -------Rep Central Mumbai
k) Cdr Nevil Malao, VSM------------ Rep Central Mumbai
l) Cdr Dinesh Rai, NM(G)------------Rep South Mumbai
m) Cdr Surinder Paul-------------------Rep Thane
n) Cdr Kannan Ramdas -------------- Rep Powai
o) Cdr SK Sharma ……--------------- Rep Powai
p) Surg Cdr Ratna Mahindra -------Rep South Mumbai
In addition Cmde Sumeet Kapoor, NM, (DNV), Cmde Varun singh (Dir RC ECHS), Surg Cmde Ashok Yadav, SEMO & EXO Asvini, Capt Gaurav Mahajan (CRSO) attended the AGM. CinC VAdm Sanjay Vatsayan, had planned to meet the Veterans over PLD after AGM, but he had to fly down to Delhi for CNS call-on. However on his behalf CSO(P&A) RAdm Sandeep Verma, joined us for PLD & Lunch to interact with our esteemed Veterans & gracious Veer Naris.
At the outset Cdr Vijay Vadhera, President NFMC welcomed all members present at the AGM and expressed his delight on Veterans turning up in large numbers. He briefly went about the schedule of the AGM proceedings. The AGM started with observance of 2 minutes silence in honour of 24 Veterans, Spouses and Veer Naris who left us for their heavenly abode, since the last AGM held on 08 Jun 2025. The last post was played as all stood up to observe 2 mins silence.The President in his address mentioned about the welfare measures being taken by NFMC managing committee, the Veterans Day events conducted in Jan this year, starting with 5th Veterans day Parade and culminating with Veer Naris and Octogenarian gettogether in IMSC. He brought out that 49 new members had joined our foundation since the last AGM; 7 of those present introduced themselves. Cdr Vadhera also briefed the members on important decisions taken by CNS during the recently concluded Navy AGM/ GCM/ Sammanvay held in Kochi on 20/21 Apr 2026.
Secy NFMC introduced the DNV to the gathering and read out the impressive profile of Cmde Kapoor,NM; his NDA training, Staff College at Quantico USA and NDC, his various awards in service including the Nausena Medal in 2016, his ship commands Coast Guard C-04, INS Veer, INS Kulish & INS Tarkash, his staff appointments at NHQ (DNP), TC INA Ezhimala, CSO(Ops) HQSNC, DA (Srilanka & Maldives).
Cmde Kapoor briefed the Veterans on the recent NF AGM at Kochi emphasizing that NHQ considers Welfare of Veterans at Top priority, whether its ECHS or SPARSH. To simplify matters for the Veterans, he mentioned that DNV is the first point of contact for all issues and said the they could approach him through email/ whatsapp any time. Later during PLD a number of Veterans interacted with DNV. NFMC is grateful to Cmde Kapoor, who despite his busy schedule, decided to fly down and attend our AGM. .
The Previous AGM’s Minutes and Balance sheet was approved during the AGM. There were no Old Agenda points and only one had been received for the current AGM, There was one proposal by Capt PK Jindal, NM, of having a small contingent of Veterans for the Bombay Marathon for publicity. Cdr Vadhera mentioned that it’s a good idea and a proposal shall be put up to HQWNC. He albeit mentioned that enough publicity is garnered during our annual Veterans Day parades.
A) SPARSH : All grievances should only be forwarded to DNV, being the nodal point of contact. Efforts are in hand to revive INGRAMS and ascertain the feasibility of making it App based.
B) ROIC : Approval has been accorded for issue of ‘Retired Officer Identity Card’ to all Premature retirees with more than 10 yrs service. Necessary amendment to N.O. is being done and policy letter shall soon be issued by NHQ.
C) NF MOU : Navy Foundation MOU as last revised in 2017. It is being amended and revised MOU will be issued by DNV.
D) Army Help Line No- 155306 is also applicable to Naval Veterans.
E) PAN INDIA VDP has been turned down, but present CNS had mentioned that he shall pursue it and ensure for it to be done in Naval establishments.
F) TOLL TAX EXEMPTION for NM(G) and above being pursued.
G) FREE RAILWAY TKTS NM (G) has been considered as gallantry award for free Railway Tkts by grant of Rail concession, which was for chakra awardees earlier.
H) 20 % EXTRA PENSION ON COMMENCEMENT OF 80 YRS Courts have approved individual cases filed. It was proposed that Navy to take up the issue for all Veterans. It has been filed awaiting suitable reply from Supreme Court.
CASH AWARDS QD-2025 Cdr Vijay Vadhera briefed the gathering that 8 of our members whose articles appeared in QD (viz Adm VS Shekhawat, RAdm RC Kochhar, Cmde Mike Bhada, Cmde Srikant Kesnur, Cdr Vijay Vadhera, Capt Rajinder Dutta, Cdr HS Rawat & Cdr Jalaj Kakar) shall be awarded Rs 2500/- each by DNV. Only Cdr Vadhera’s Article on the Samudra Expedition qualified in the Naval History Section for the Award of Rs 5K by NFMC, as had been earlier promulgated. Cdr Vadhera, however donated the award to IMSC stewards, a noble gesture indeed. Kudos to President NFMC.
A) Cdr S Kulshrestha (40257-T) (MUM-0451)
B) Cdr Jugal Kishore (70127-B) (MUM-0323)
C) Cmde DK Saluja, VSM (50328-F) (MUM0279)
D) Cmde Richard Thiagarajan (00828-F) (MUM-0275)
E) Cdr Om Parkash Verma (00951-K) (MUM-0045)
F) LtCdr JR Sharma (89751-B) (MUM-1081)
ELECTION OF HON SECY NFMC
The President brought out that nominations were sought 4 months in advance for the post of Hon Secy NFMC as Capt Rajinder Dutta (02179-A), had completed his two terms as Secy NFMC. Since no fresh nominations had been received, Capt Rajinder Dutta stands reelected for another term of 3 yrs each. The proposal, Proposed by : Cmde BK Ahluwalia,VSM and Seconded by : Cmde Srikant Kesnur, VSM, was approved amidst thunderous applause.
CONCLUDING REMARKS BY HON. SECY NFMC. The Hon. Secy spoke on the noble efforts of the CMs of various areas under Mumbai region being administered by them for effective functioning of NFMC. He thanked the Veterans for contributing to the Society in their own manner and conveyed Best wishes to Veterans in times to come.
FELICITATION OF HON SECY & MRS GURINDER PAUL Cdr Vadhera brought out that the Hon. Secy NFMC, Capt Raj Dutta is an avid NFMC blogger and has been blogging all NFMC events since 2017. His blogs have been read and appreciated by senior officers. Cdr Vadhera requested Adm Vijai Shekhawat to felicitate him with the Golden Sailboat. After this felicitation Cdr Vadhera called upon Mrs Sunita Vadhera to felicitate Mrs Gurinder Paul as NFMC standby Photographer. She undertook splendid photo coverage during the recent China Tour and CinC’s Lunching out on 29 May 2026.
OPEN HOUSE During the Open House discussions, RAdm RC Kochhar proposed and Cmde BK Ahluwalia seconded that New CinC should be welcomed as well as dined/ lunched out. The proposal was accepted by President NFMC, subject to the availability & acceptance by CinC, to be held only on a Sunday / Holiday, to facilitate maximum attendance by the Veterans & Veer Naris.
VOTE OF THANKS. Vote of thanks was Proposed, VAdm IC Rao, PVSM, AVSM, who complimented the Managing Committee for the dedicated honorable work being done and wished them all the very Best. There was a big round of applause. Vote of Thanks was seconded by Cmde BK Ahluwalia,VSM
GALA INTERACTION
The meet and greet session then started amidst rounds of Mocktails and drinks and sumptuous Eats. Meena kept clicking groups of Veterans and Veer Naris meeting after a long time, capturing the prized moments to be frozen in footprints of Time. Everyone that I happen to interact with had a word of praise for the NFMC Management Committee under the leadership of Cdr Vijay Vadhera. The multi-cuisine Lunch was a delectable pursuit topped up with exceptionally delicious Kulfi, ice-creams along with varied pastries.
A remarkable day revelled in magnificiently. Awaiting next interaction with Veterans during the forthcoming Navy Week celebrations…Cheers ! Agar koi hum Veterans se poochhe, ke zindagi mein kya khoya aur kya paya ? Toh hum be-jhijhak kahenge, ‘Jo khoya vo hai hamara bachpan hamari nadaani, aur jo paya wo hai hamare Rabb ki Meharbani ’… !!!
Sam No Varunah
Jai Hind.
(P.S. The Blog would not have been complete sans Photography, Videography & Video editing by Meena Dutta)
PHOTOS
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