New Delhi: The Government of India has appointed former Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Director General Anish Dayal Singh as the new Deputy National Security Advisor (NSA). Singh will primarily oversee internal security affairs, including Jammu and Kashmir, Naxal-affected regions, and the Northeast, according to official sources.

Who is Anish Dayal Singh?

Anish Dayal Singh, a 1988-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer from the Manipur cadre, retired in December 2024 after nearly four decades of service. His career highlights include almost 30 years in the Intelligence Bureau (IB), leadership roles as head of the ITBP and the CRPF.

What will be his role as Deputy NSA?

Singh’s mandate as Deputy NSA includes managing internal security challenges, with a special focus on conflict-prone and insurgency-affected areas such as Jammu and Kashmir, Naxal-affected zones, and the Northeastern states. This appointment positions him alongside other senior security officials, including former RAW chief Rajinder Khanna (Additional NSA), IPS officer TV Ravichandran, and former IFS officer Pawan Kapoor, who are also serving as deputy NSAs.

His achievements:

During his leadership of the CRPF, Singh was pivotal in advancing counter-Naxalism efforts by establishing over three dozen forward operating bases and adding four new battalions to Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) affected regions. He also played a crucial role in ensuring security during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the historic first Assembly elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Internally, Singh initiated a comprehensive realignment of over 130 CRPF battalions — the first such restructuring in eight years, which is aimed at improving operational efficiency and providing troops with more "family time," reducing the average distance between units and their parent centres from 1,200 km to 500 km.

He also launched “samvaad” (dialogue) sessions with company commanders to improve communication and morale within the force.

Singh was a key advocate for the recent Union government policy granting honorary ranks to retiring personnel of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs). This policy, approved earlier in 2025 by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), aims to boost morale and address long-standing stagnation in promotions among CAPF officers, some of whom have waited up to two decades for advancement.

PTI inputs