Director General Armed Forces Medical Services (India)

The Director General Armed Forces Medical Services (DGAFMS) is the head of the Armed Forces Medical Services of the Indian Armed Forces. The DGAFMS is the advisor to the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and the Defence Minister on the medical requirements of the Armed Forces.

History In March 1947, an Armed Forces Medical Services and Research Integration Committee was formed by the Government of India. The committee, headed by Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, subsequently Chief Minister of West Bengal until 1962, was tasked with examining the integration of medical services and research of the three branches of the Armed Forces. The committee recommended that the Indian Armed Forces Medical Services would have a supreme controller designated Director General of the Armed Forces Medical Services in the rank of lieutenant general, vice admiral, or air marshal.

In September 1948, the medical services of the Royal Indian Navy, the Indian Army and the Royal Indian Air Force were integrated into the Armed Forces Medical Service (AFMS). The AFMS consists of the Army Medical Corps (AMC), the Army Dental Corps (AD Corps) and the Military Nursing Service (MNS). The Director of Medical Services at Army Headquarters, Lieutenant General K. S. Master, was appointed the first director general Armed Forces Medical Services to head the service. The DGAFMS would be responsible to the Ministry of Defence for overall medical policy matters related to the Armed Forces.

Appointees Key Died in office

S.No. Portrait Name Service branch Assumed office Left office Reference1.Lieutenant General Kaikhosru Sorabji Master September 19481 October 19502.Lieutenant General Daya Ram Thapar 1 October 195011 June 19543.Lieutenant General Devendra Nath Chakravarti 12 June 195415 October 19554.Lieutenant General Bijeta Chaudhuri 15 October 195516 October 19595.Lieutenant General Benegal Mukunda Rao16 October 19591 September 19616.Lieutenant General Shiv Parshad Bhatia 1 September 19619 October 19627.Lieutenant General Charu Chandra Kapila 9 October 196210 October 19648.Lieutenant General Tirath Ram Pahwa 10 October 196425 October 19669.Lieutenant General Amarendra Krishna Dey 26 October 196615 December 196710.Lieutenant General Jagdish Ram Vaid FRCS15 December 196727 July 1968 11.Lieutenant General Bidyapati Bhattacharjya 31 July 19689 July 196912.Lieutenant General Sailendra Nath Chatterjee 9 July 19691 August 197313.Lieutenant General Ved Prakash 2 August 197331 December 197414.Air Marshal Ajit Nath 1 January 197523 April 197615.Lieutenant General Raghunath Singh Hoon 24 April 19761 July 197716.Lieutenant General Biradavolu Durga Prasad Rao 1 July 197724 April 197817.Lieutenant General Lok Nath Budhraja 24 April 197831 October 197918.Lieutenant General Devendra Nath Gupta 1 November 197931 January 198219.Lieutenant General Harnam Singh Seth 1 February 198231 July 198220.Lieutenant General Vallury Venkateswara Surya Prataprao 1 August 198231 May 198321.Lieutenant General Ananta Narayanan Ramasubramaniam 1 June 1983198522.Lieutenant General Harish Chandra Puri AVSM, VSM, FRCS, FRCSEOctober 198531 August 198623.Lieutenant General Jagdish Narayan 1 September 198631 December 198724.Lieutenant General Krishan Das Kapur1 January 1988September 198825.Lieutenant General Jaswant Singh Paul30 September 1988February 199026.Lieutenant General Vijay Kishore Tewari16 February 1990March 199127.Lieutenant General Nirendra Chandra Sanyal 16 April 1991December 199428.Surgeon Vice Admiral Inderjit Singh 18 December 19941 September 199629.Lieutenant General Dasarathy Raghunath 1 September 19961 September 199730.Lieutenant General Ramanand Jayaswal 1 September 1997200031.Lieutenant General Ravinder Kumar Jetley 9 October 200031 October 200232.Lieutenant General Bijoy Nandan Shahi 1 November 20021 February 200433.Lieutenant General Janak Raj Bhardwaj 1 February 2004May 200534.Surgeon Vice Admiral Vijai Kumar SinghJune 20051 May 200735.Surgeon Vice Admiral Yogendra Singh 1 May 200730 May 200936.Lieutenant General Naresh Kumar Parmar 1 June 20091 June 201137.Lieutenant General Hira Lal Kakria 1 June 201130 June 201238.Air Marshal Dhananjay Parashuram Joshi 1 July 201231 October 201439.Lieutenant General Bhushan Kumar Chopra 1 November 201430 June 201640.Lieutenant General Manoj Kumar Unni 1 July 20161 November 201741.Lieutenant General Bipin Puri 1 November 20171 November 201942.Lieutenant General Anup Banerji 1 November 201931 December 202043. Surgeon Vice Admiral Rajat Datta 1 January 202114 March 202344. Lieutenant General Daljit Singh 15 March 202330 September 202445. Surgeon Vice Admiral Arti Sarin 1 October 202431 August 202646.Air Marshal Sandeep Thareja 1 September 2026Incumbent Number of DGAFMS by branches of service Branch Count 38 5 3

See also Army Medical Corps (India) Armed Forces Medical Services

References