The Director General of the Indian Coast Guard (DG ICG) is the head of the

Indian Coast Guard The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) is a maritime law enforcement and search and rescue agency of India with jurisdiction over its territorial waters including its contiguous zone and exclusive economic zone. The Indian Coast Guard was formally es ...

. The DG ICG has their office in the Coast Guard Headquarters (CGHQ) in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

. Appointed by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

, the DG ICG reports to the

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from coun ...

. The Director General is assisted by four Deputy Directors General, each holding the rank of

inspector-general An inspector general is an investigative official in a civil or military organization. The plural of the term is "inspectors general". Australia The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (Australia) (IGIS) is an independent statutory of ...

, and other senior officers heading various staff divisions. The Additional Director General of the ICG serves as the second-in-command to the Director General. The post of Director General of the Indian Coast Guard is held by a

three-star rank An officer of three-star rank is a senior commander in many of the armed services holding a rank described by the NATO code of OF-8. The term is also used by some armed forces which are not NATO members. Typically, three-star officers hold the ...

holder as a position and is not a rank in itself. It is equivalent to Vice Admiral of the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

of the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

and the Air Marshal of the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

. The rank of Additional Director General of the Indian Coast Guard is equivalent to that of a Lieutenant General of the Indian Army.

Virender Singh Pathania Virender Singh Pathania PTM, TM, is an Indian Coast Guard officer serving as the 24th and the current Director General of the Indian Coast Guard. He assumed the office on 31 December 2021 upon superannuation of Director General Krishnaswamy Nata ...

, is the current Director General of the

who assumed the office after Krishnaswamy Natarajan retired. The Flag officer is the third direct entry Coast Guard officer who took over the helm of the ICG on 31 December 2021 as the 24th Director General.

History

The

came into being on 19 August 1978. The new service was to function under the overall command and control of a Director general. Vice Admiral V. A. Kamath, deputed from the Indian Navy, served as the first DG ICG. Appointed on 19 August 1978, he served in the capacity until 31 March 1980. Until 2016, appointees to the DG position were Officers of the

deputed to the Coast Guard. Three direct entry Coast Guard officers have gone on to head the service. While two previous Directors General have come from the Coast Guard stream –Rameshwar Singh and P. Paleri – they have all initially been commissioned into the

before later being permanently deputed to the Coast Guard service.

Additional responsibilities

Apart from heading the Coast Guard, the DGICG is also: * Chairman, National Maritime Search and Rescue Board (NMSARB) * Chairman, National Oil-spill Disaster Contingency Plan Committee (NOSDCP) * Chairman, Offshore Security Co-ordination Committee (OSCC), of which the

Flag Officer Defence Advisory Group The Flag Officer Defence Advisory Group (FODAG) and Advisor Offshore Security and Defence to the Government of India is the title of the flag officer who heads the Offshore Defence Advisory Group. The FODAG is a two-star officer holding the rank of ...

is a member. * Indian Governor to Regional Co-operation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against ships in Asia (ReCAAP)

Insignia

The badges of rank have a crossed sword and baton over three eight-pointed stars and the Ashoka emblem above, on a golden shoulder board. The Director General wears

gorget patches Gorget patches (collar tabs, collar patches) are an insignia in the form of paired patches of cloth or metal on the collar of a uniform (gorget), used in the military and civil service in some countries. Collar tabs sign the military rank (group o ...

which are navy blue patches with three golden stars and oak leaves under the three golden stars. In addition to this, the double-breasted

reefer jacket A pea coat (or peacoat, pea jacket, pilot jacket, reefer jacket) is an outer coat, generally of a navy-coloured heavy wool, originally worn by sailors of European and later American navies. Pea coats are characterized by short length, broad la ...

has three golden sleeve stripes consisting of a broad band with two narrower bands.

List of Directors General

Notes

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{citation, first1=Anup, last1=Singh, title=Blue Waters Ahoy!, The Indian Navy 2001-2010 , year=2018, isbn= 9789353025526, publisher=HarperCollins Publishers India

External links

Official website of Indian Coast Guard

Organisational structure of Indian Coast Guard
Indian Coast Guard Indian Navy Indian military appointments