At a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to end VVIP culture, the Indian Army is also getting strict against its officials indulging in show-off, as it recently asked a senior officer to put the registration numbers of his official vehicle instead of using his formation’s name on the number plate.

The matter has come to light at a time when there have been several cases of blatant display of ‘star status’ by individuals, including an incident where a Lieutenant General prominently displayed his ‘three stars’ on a boat while immersing the ashes of his parents in the holy Ganges in Allahabad.

In this case, an officer of a Mountain Strike Corps in the northeast had used his formation sign name on his vehicle number plate, and referred to his vehicle as ‘Brahmastra 1’.

After the officer started using ‘Brahmastra 1’ on his car number plate instead of the car’s military registration numbers, an unknown officer posted there clicked a picture of the vehicle and posted it on the social media.

Soon, the picture became viral, inviting some critical comments from junior officers who termed it as “unnecessary show-off”. The senior leadership of the force also took note of the matter.

“The senior officer was later called up on the matter. The officer has agreed to also display the registration numbers of the car on the number plate,” sources in the Army said.

The official cars of the three services chiefs have the names of their respective services on the number plate like the Army Chief’s car number plate has ‘Army One’ written on it.

After the services chiefs started using this number plate, some of the Army commander-rank equivalent officers also started using similar plates on their vehicles.

In recent times, some of the Corps Commanders also started using these number plates along with prominent display of their stars.

A couple of years ago, a senior officer of Major General rank was criticised on social media after officials put two stars on his mule while going to a high altitude location.

To flaunt their ranks, officers sometimes display their star status on their golf carts as well.