Retired DG of BSF Pankaj Kumar Singh appointed Deputy National Security Adviser

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Retired director general of the Border Security Force (BSF) Pankaj Kumar Singh was appointed on 17 January as the Deputy National Security Adviser in the National Security Council Secretariat for a period of two years.

An overview of the news

• Pankaj Kumar Singh, a 1988 batch IPS officer of Rajasthan cadre, has been appointed on re-employment contract. He retired as the BSF chief on December 31, 2022.

• He had earlier served as Inspector General of CRPF in Chhattisgarh and IG (Operations) at CRPF Headquarters in Delhi.

• He also worked in BSF before becoming BSF DG.

• As head of the Eastern Frontier, he played a key role in reducing cattle smuggling through the borders of West Bengal and Assam.

• There has been an 87% decline in cattle smuggling along the Indo-Bangladesh border between 2015 and 2021.

• He was also instrumental in demonstrating motorcycle riding acrobatics to women soldiers of the BSF at the Republic Day parade.

• His father Prakash Singh, a retired 1959 batch IPS officer, also headed the BSF from June 1993 to January 1994.

• Pankaj Singh is considered the architect of police reforms in the country.

• National Security Adviser - Ajit Doval