The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointments of new chiefs for the National Investigation Agency (NIA), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD).

Sadanand Vasant Date, a Maharashtra cadre officer, has been appointed as the new chief of the NIA, while Piyush Anand has been named as the DG of NDRF, and Rajeev Kumar Sharma has been appointed as the Director General of BPRD. Date and Sharma belong to the 1990 batch of the Indian Police Service (IPS), while Anand is from the 1991 batch.

Date, hailing from the Maharashtra cadre, received the Presidents Medal for Gallantry for his bravery in saving lives and combating terrorists during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Currently, he leads the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS). The NIA stands as the nation's foremost investigation agency.

The three officers are scheduled to assume their new roles on March 31, coinciding with the retirement of the current chiefs—Dinkar Gupta of NIA, Atul Karwal of NDRF, and Balaji Srivastava of the BPRD.

Previously, Gupta served as the Director General of Police (DGP) in Punjab, Karwal held the position of Director at the SVP National Police Academy, and Srivastava briefly assumed the additional responsibilities of Delhi Police Commissioner for nearly a month in 2021.

In preparation for the enactment of three criminal laws, the BPRD is actively engaged in training police officers nationwide and developing backend software to link police stations nationwide. Over the past three months, the BPRD has conducted Training of Trainer (ToT) sessions for nearly all police forces. These trained trainers will subsequently impart training to other police personnel on the new laws.

The India National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), comprising over 18,000 personnel, is responsible for disaster response across the nation. In the past year, the force played a crucial role in rescue operations at the Uttarakhand tunnel, where 41 workers were trapped, as well as in responding to earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, and a flash flood in Sikkim.

In addition to the three appointments, the ACC has endorsed the Home Ministry's proposal to transfer PV Ramashastri, a 1989 batch officer, back to his original cadre in Uttar Pradesh. Ramashastri presently serves as the Special Director General (Operations) in the BSF.

Image source: Hindustan Times