IPS Atul Karwal appointed as new NDRF Director General

New NDRF Director General: IPS Atul Karwal has been appointed the new Director General (DG) of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). He is currently working as the Director of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad.

The Secretariat of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet had confirmed Karwal's appointment by temporarily upgrading the post to the level of DG for a period of two years. This came after the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved a proposal from the Home Ministry. 

Sheel Vardhan was also as the new Director-General of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in another major appointment.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy Director Atul Karwal has been appointed as the new director general of NDRF

(File photo) pic.twitter.com/ltCunMPCQP

— ANI (@ANI) November 10, 2021

NDRF DG Term: Two years from the date of joining the post or till further orders, whichever is earlier.

Who is Atul Karwal

•Atul Karwal is a 1988 batch IPS officer from Gujarat cadre. He has served as the Superintendent of Police in many districts including Junagadh, Porbandar, Rajkot Rural, Valsad and Mehsana.

•He has served as the deputy commissioner of police in surat, Ahmadabad and Vadodara.

•He has also previously served as the commandant of the State Reserve Police Force, Group 13 in Rajkot.

•He has also worked as the Assistant Director in outdoor training in Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad from 1998-2002, where he trained 4 batches of IPS officers. 

•He has also served as the Deputy Inspector General of Police and took up the role of DIG Planning and Modernization in the DGP Office, Gandhinagar. 

•Prior to joining the Police Academy, he had served as Inspector-General (Trg), CRPF, IG (Pers) CRPF, and ADG (Pers), CRPF. 

•He has also served as the Inspector-General of Police, Anti-Terrorist Squad in Gujarat.

•As IG, CRPF in Srinagar, he supervised around 23 Battalions in Srinagar for Counter Terrorist operations and Law and Order. 

What is National Disaster Response Force?

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is an specialized Indian force that is constituted for special response in a disaster situation. The force comes under the National Disaster Management Authority and it was set up under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

The National Disaster Response Force is headed by a designated Director-General. The NDRF Director Generals are IPS officers on deputation from Indian police organizations. The NDRF Director-General has several Inspector Generals (IG) and Deputy IGs who are flag officers. 

The National Disaster Management Authority is chaired by the Prime Minister of the Nation. 

Current NDRF Director General- SN Pradhan, IPS( He has been serving since January 22, 2019)