# 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 Minister of Defence 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/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

| S.No. | Name | Defence branch | Assumed office | Left office |
| 1. | Lieutenant General K. S. Master MC | Indian Army | September 1948 | 1 October 1950 |
| 2. | Lt. Gen. Daya Ram Thapar CIE, OBE | Indian Army | 1 October 1950 | 11 June 1954 |
| 3. | Lt. Gen. D. N. Chakravarti OBE | Indian Army | 12 June 1954 | 15 October 1955 |
| 4. | Lt. Gen. B. Choudhury | Indian Army | 15 October 1955 | 16 October 1959 |
| 5. | Lt. Gen. B. M. Rao | Indian Army | 16 October 1959 | 1 September 1961 |
| 6. | Lt. Gen. S. P. Bhatia | Indian Army | 1 September 1961 | 9 October 1962 |
| 7. | Lt. Gen. C. C. Kapila OBE | Indian Army | 9 October 1962 | 10 October 1964 |
| 8. | Lt. Gen. T. R. Pahwa | Indian Army | 10 October 1964 | 25 October 1966 |
| 9. | Lt. Gen. A. K. Dev PVSM | Indian Army | 26 October 1966 | 15 December 1967 |
| 10. | Lt. Gen. Jagdish Ram Vaid FRCS | Indian Army | 15 December 1967 | 27 July 1968 |
| 11. | Lt. Gen. B. Bhattacharjya FRCP, FRCPE | Indian Army | 31 July 1968 | 9 July 1969 |
| 12. | Lt. Gen. S. N. Chatterjee MC | Indian Army | 9 July 1969 | 1 August 1973 |
| 13. | Lt. Gen. Ved Prakash PVSM | Indian Army | 2 August 1973 | 31 December 1974 |
| 14. | Air Marshal Ajit Nath | Indian Air Force | 1 January 1975 | 23 April 1976 |
| 15. | Lt. Gen. R. S. Hoon PVSM | Indian Army | 24 April 1976 | 1 July 1977 |
| 16. | Lt. Gen. B. D. P. Rao MBE | Indian Army | 1 July 1977 | 24 April 1978 |
| 17. | Lt. Gen. L. N. Budhraja PVSM, AVSM | Indian Army | 24 April 1978 | 31 October 1979 |
| 18. | Lt. Gen. D. N. Gupta PVSM, AVSM | Indian Army | 1 November 1979 | 31 January 1982 |
| 19. | Lt. Gen. H. S. Seth | Indian Army | 1 February 1982 | 31 July 1982 |
| 20. | Lt. Gen. V.V.S. Pratapa Rao PVSM | Indian Army | 1 August 1982 | 31 May 1983 |
| 21. | Lt. Gen. A. R. Subramanian | Indian Army | 1 June 1983 | 1985 |
| 22. | Lt. Gen. H. C. Puri AVSM, VSM, FRCS, FRCSE | Indian Army | October 1985 | 31 August 1986 |
| 23. | Lt. Gen. Jagdish Narayan PVSM | Indian Army | 1 September 1986 | 31 December 1987 |
| 24. | Lt. Gen. K. D. Kapur | Indian Army | 1 January 1988 | September 1988 |
| 25. | Lt. Gen. Jaswant Singh Paul | Indian Army | 30 September 1988 | February 1990 |
| 26. | Lt. Gen. V. K. Tewari | Indian Army | 16 February 1990 | March 1991 |
| 27. | Lieutenant General N. C. Sanyal | Indian Army | 16 April 1991 | December 1994 |
| 28. | Surgeon Vice Admiral Inderjit Singh | Indian Navy | 18 December 1994 | 1 September 1996 |
| 29. | Lieutenant General D. Raghunath AVSM | Indian Army | 1 September 1996 | 1 September 1997 |
| 30. | Lieutenant General Ramanand Jayaswal AVSM | Indian Army | 1 September 1997 | 2000 |
| 31. | Lieutenant General R. K. Jetley PVSM, VSM | Indian Army | 9 October 2000 | 31 October 2002 |
| 32. | Lieutenant General Bijoy Nandan Shahi PVSM, AVSM, VSM | Indian Army | 1 November 2002 | 1 February 2004 |
| 33. | Lieutenant General J. R. Bhardwaj PVSM, AVSM, VSM | Indian Army | 1 February 2004 | May 2005 |
| 34. | Surgeon Vice-Admiral Vijai Kumar Singh | Indian Navy | June 2005 | 1 May 2007 |
| 35. | Surgeon Vice-Admiral Yogendra Singh VSM | Indian Navy | 1 May 2007 | 30 May 2009 |
| 36. | Lieutenant General Naresh Kumar Parmar PVSM, AVSM, VrC, VSM | Indian Army | 1 June 2009 | 1 June 2011 |
| 37. | Lieutenant General H. L. Kakria PVSM, AVSM, VSM | Indian Army | 1 June 2011 | 30 June 2012 |
| 38. | Air Marshal D. P. Joshi | Indian Air Force | 1 July 2012 | 31 October 2014 |
| 39. | Lieutenant General B. K. Chopra AVSM | Indian Army | 1 November 2014 | 30 June 2016 |
| 40. | Lieutenant General Manoj Kumar Unni AVSM, VSM | Indian Army | 1 July 2016 | 1 November 2017 |
| 41. | Lieutenant General Bipin Puri VSM | Indian Army | 1 November 2017 | 1 November 2019 |
| 42. | Lieutenant General Anup Banerji SM | Indian Army | 1 November 2019 | 31 December 2020 |
| 43. | Surgeon Vice-Admiral Rajat Datta AVSM, SM, VSM | Indian Navy | 1 January 2021 | 14 March 2023 |
| 44. | Lieutenant General Daljit Singh AVSM, VSM | Indian Army | 15 March 2023 | 30 September 2024 |
| 45. | Surgeon Vice Admiral Arti Sarin AVSM, VSM | Indian Navy | 1 October 2024 | Incumbent |