Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said on Saturday that Field Marshal KM Cariappa, independent India’s first army chief, should be conferred the Bharat Ratna. “Its time to recommend Field Marshal KM Cariappa for the Bharat Ratna,” he was quoted by ANI as saying.
Rawat said he would take up the issue with the Centre. “If others can get it, I see no reason why he should not, a deserving personality for the same. We will shortly address the issue on priority,” he said, as he unveiled the statues of Cariappa and General K S Thimayya, also a former Army chief who hailed from Kodagu district in Karnataka, at a function at the Cauvery College at Gonikoppal.

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said on Saturday that Field Marshal KM Cariappa, independent India’s first army chief, should be conferred the Bharat Ratna. “Its time to recommend Field Marshal KM Cariappa for the Bharat Ratna,” he was quoted by ANI as saying.
Rawat said he would take up the issue with the Centre. “If others can get it, I see no reason why he should not, a deserving personality for the same. We will shortly address the issue on priority,” he said, as he unveiled the statues of Cariappa and General K S Thimayya, also a former Army chief who hailed from Kodagu district in Karnataka, at a function at the Cauvery College at Gonikoppal.