Director General of the Assam Rifles

Director General of the Assam Rifles (DGAR)
Incumbent Lieutenant General Vikas Lakhera, AVSM SM since 1 August 2024
Formation	1947;78 years ago (1947)
First holder	H. G. Bartly, CIE, IP
Website	Official Website

The Director General of the Assam Rifles (DGAR) is the head of the Assam Rifles. The DGAR has their office in the Headquarters DGAR at Shillong. Appointed by the Government of India, the DGAR reports to the Minister of Home Affairs. The Director General is an Indian Army Officer of the rank of Lieutenant General and is assisted by three Inspector Generals, each holding the rank of Major General, and other senior officers heading various staff appointments. The Additional Director General of the Assam Rifles who is a Major General - ranked officer serves as the Second-in-command to the Director General. ^[1] The current Director General, Lieutenant General Vikas Lakhera, AVSM, SM is the 22nd DGAR. ^[2]

History

The first Director General post-Independence was Mr HG Bartly, CIE, IP who assumed the appointment on 17 September 1947. The first Indian Director General was Colonel Sidhiman Rai, MC appointed on 15 August 1948. The rank of officers holding the appointment of Director General Assam Rifles has been consistently upgraded from Colonel to Brigadier (One star General) to Major General (Two star General) to Lieutenant General (Three star General) now. Indian Army officers on deputation have been holding the appointment of Director General Assam Rifles until date.

List of directors general

S.No	Rank	Name	Appointment date	Left office	References
1	-	H. G. Bartly, CIE, IP	17 Sep 1947	14 Aug 1948	[3]
2	Colonel	Sidhiman Rai, MC	15 Aug 1948	10 Dec 1949	[4]
3	Colonel	R. N. D. Frier, MC	16 Dec 1949	29 Feb 1952
4	Brigadier	K. Bhagwati Singh, AVSM	1 Mar 1952	4 May 1954
5	Brigadier	K. S. Katoch, MC	5 May 1954	29 Aug 1955
6	Brigadier	Harbhajan Singh	7 Sep 1955	30 Nov 1957
7	Major General	A. S. Guraya	1 Feb 1958	14 Dec 1965
8		S. N. Bhatia	15 Dec 1965	15 Feb 1968
9		V. B. Tuli	20 Feb 1968	19 May 1972
10		M. G. Hazari, PVSM, AVSM	30 Mar 1973	29 Feb 1976
11		K. Chiman Singh, PVSM	1 Mar 1976	25 Jun 1979
12	Lieutenant General	Sushil Kumar, PVSM	1 Sep 1979	2 Dec 1981	[5]
13		J. K. Puri, PVSM, AVSM	2 Dec 1981	29 Nov 1983
14		P. E. Menon, PVSM	30 Nov 1983	31 May 1987
15		M. K. Lahiri, PVSM	1 Jun 1987	21 Dec 1989
16		R. V. Kulkarni, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM	22 Feb 1990	9 Mar 1992
17		V. P. Airy, MVC	18 Mar 1992	31 Mar 1993	[6]
18		Y. M. Bammi, ADC	15 Jul 1993	30 Apr 1995	[7]
19		T. P. S. Rawat, PVSM, VSM	19 May 1995	30 Apr 1998	[8]
20		Gurpreet Singh, PVSM	1 May 1998	18 Jan 2001
21		G. K. Duggal, PVSM, AVSM, VrC	19 Jan 2001	18 Jan 2003	[9]
22		H. S. Kanwar, PVSM, AVSM, VSM	1 Mar 2003	30 Apr 2004	[10]
23		Bhopinder Singh, PVSM, AVSM, VSM	1 May 2004	30 Jun 2006	[11]
24		Paramjit Singh, PVSM, AVSM, VSM	6 Jul 2006	31 May 2008	[12] [13]
25		K. S. Yadava, PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM	9 Jun 2008	30 Sep 2010	[14] [15]
26		Rameshwar Roy, UVSM, AVSM, YSM	6 Dec 2010	22 Feb 2012	[16] [17]
27		Ranbir Singh, PVSM, AVSM, SM	27 Aug 2012	31 Mar 2014	[18] [19]
28		R. K. Rana, SM, VSM	26 May 2014	31 Aug 2015	[20]
29		H. J. S. Sachdev, PVSM, AVSM, SM, ADC	1 Sep 2015	30 Sep 2016	[21]
30		Shokin Chauhan, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, SM, VSM	12 Dec 2016	31 Mar 2018	[22]
31		Sukhdeep Sangwan, AVSM, SM **	4 May 2018	31 May 2021	[23]
32		Pradeep Chandran Nair, AVSM, YSM	1 June 2021	31 July 2024	[24]
33		Vikas Lakhera, AVSM, SM	1 August 2024	Incumbent	[25]

See also

• Assam Rifles
• Special Frontier Force

References

1. "असम राइफल्स में आपका स्वागत है". assamrifles.gov.in.
2. "LIEUTENANT GENERAL VIKAS LAKHERA, AVSM, SM, TOOK OVER AS DIRECTOR GENERAL OF ASSAM RIFLES - The Assam Rifles Twitter". X (formerly twitter). Retrieved 1 August 2024.
3. Paramilitary forces of India. Kalpaz Publications. 2008. p. 99. ISBN   978-8178357089.
4. "From private militia to army-like force". Hindustan Times. 16 March 2010.
5. Kumar, Sushil (2014). Jawan to general. Manas Publications. ISBN   978-8170494843.
6. "Rediff On The NeT Special: Major General Ashok K Mehta traces the background leading to Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat's dismissal last month". m.rediff.com.
7. Democracies and small wars. F. Cass. 2003. p. 98. ISBN   9780714684239.
8. "Members : Lok Sabha". 164.100.47.194.
9. "North East Diary". telegraphindia.com.
10. "North East Diary". telegraphindia.com.
11. "Indian Army bids farewell to Lt Gen Singh". oneindia.com. 30 June 2006.
12. "Lieutenant General Paramjit Singh new DGAR : 07th jul06 ~ E-Pao! Headlines". e-pao.net.
13. "Assam Rifles gets new Director General". Zee News. 10 June 2008.
14. "Oldest paramilitary force in the country, Assam Rifles has deployed its first ever field intelligence unit in the North East. "It is expected to mature and be fully operational in about six month's time," outgoing DG Lt Gen KS Yadava said here today. The intelligence unit is an officer-oriented organization comprising about 200 men. Assam Rifles is the lead intelligence unit along the Myanmar border, and earlier inputs were collected through an ad hoc arrangement. The force is also planning to raise two commando battalions. - Times of India". The Times of India. 28 September 2010.
15. "The Assam Tribune Online". assamtribune.com.
16. "Lt. Gen. Rameshwar Roy is new Assam Rifles chief". Sify . Archived from the original on 13 November 2019.
17. "Lieutenant General Rameshwar Roy is new Assam Rifles DG". Zee News. 8 December 2010.
18. "Lt Gen Ranbir Singh appointed new DG of Assam Rifles". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 24 August 2012.
19. "LT. Gen. Ranbir Singh to be New DG Assam Rifles". pib.gov.in.
20. "Lt Gen R K Rana new Assam Rifles DG | India News - Times of India". The Times of India. 27 May 2014.
21. "Assam Rifles conducts rally for ex-servicemen in Dimapur". Business Standard India. 25 November 2015.
22. Bureau, News Mobile State. "Lt. Gen Shokin Chauhan takes over as DG Assam Rifles | Newsmobile".{{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
23. "Lt Gen Sukhdeep Sangwan takes over as DG of Assam Rifles". NORTHEAST NOW. 14 May 2018.
24. The Assam Rifles [@official_dgar] (1 June 2021). "Lieutenant General Pradeep Chandran Nair, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Yudh Seva Medal assumed the appointment of Director General Assam Rifles on 01 Jun 21. He takes over as the 21st Director General of the Force popularly known as Sentinels of the North East.@PIBHomeAffairs @adgpi https://t.co/uSZxkkbQaS" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2021– via Twitter.
25. "LIEUTENANT GENERAL VIKAS LAKHERA, AVSM, SM, TOOK OVER AS DIRECTOR GENERAL OF ASSAM RIFLES - The Assam Rifles Twitter". X (formerly twitter). Retrieved 1 August 2024.