New Delhi: Former CRPF and ITBP Director General Anish Dayal Singh has been appointed Deputy National Security Advisor (NSA) with responsibility for internal security matters, official sources said.
A 1988-batch IPS officer from the Manipur cadre, Singh retired in December 2024. He brings nearly three decades of Intelligence Bureau (IB) experience, followed by leadership of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and later the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
As Deputy NSA, Singh will oversee internal security challenges, including Jammu and Kashmir, Left-Wing Extremism, and insurgency in the Northeast. He joins a team that includes Additional NSA and former RAW chief Rajinder Khanna, along with deputy NSAs TV Ravichandran (retired IPS) and Pawan Kapoor (former IFS).
During his CRPF tenure, Singh spearheaded several key initiatives: expanding operations against Naxalism, setting up over 30 forward operating bases, raising four new battalions in LWE-hit areas, and managing security during the 2024 Lok Sabha and J&K Assembly elections.
He also undertook a major restructuring of over 130 CRPF battalions—the first in eight years—cutting the average distance between units and parent centres from 1,200 km to 500 km, aimed at improving efficiency and giving troops more time with families. Singh also launched “Samvaad” sessions with company commanders to enhance feedback and communication within the force.
Singh is credited with pushing for the Union government’s recent policy to grant honorary ranks to retiring personnel of the central armed forces. The move, approved earlier this year by the Ministry of Home Affairs, was based on his proposal to address stagnation in promotions, with many constables otherwise waiting nearly two decades for their first advancement.
