Air Marshal M Baladitya VSM has been conferred with the prestigious Presidential award of ‘Ati Vishisht Seva Medal’ on Republic Day. He was awarded the Medal by the President of India on March 19 2019 at a glittering ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. He is holding the appointment of Senior Maintenance Staff Officer (SMSO) at HQ Maintenance Command, Nagpur.
Baladitya did his schooling from Bishop Cotton School, Nagpur and South Eastern Railway English Medium School at Bilaspur and graduated in 1981 from CMD College. He joined Indian Air Force in 1982. He is the first Armed Forces Officer to attain the three star rank of Air Marshal from Chattisgarh. He was commissioned in 1983 in the Logistics branch of Indian Air Force. He possesses Master’s Degree in Defence Studies and is an alumnus of Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and National Defence College, New Delhi.
During his career, he has held several Command and Staff appointments both at field units and Air Headquarters. The Air Marshal is a keen sportsman and represented Services in Nationals in Squash. He was the Air Force Squash Champion on five occasions. He was the Manager of the Indian Cricket team for the tours of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa. Before assuming the present appointment, he was Chairman and General Manager of Canteen Stores Department at Mumbai.
