Rakesh Pal took over as the 25th Director General (DG) of the Indian Coast Guard on Thursday. He is an alumnus of the Indian Naval Academy and joined Indian Coast Guard in January 1989. Upon taking over, he said that the main focus of the Indian Coast Guard has been on anti-drug operations and to ensure that the coasts are not being used for transhipment of drugs. He added that the unit is forming all the strategies to ensure that every drop of water that they patrol will be clear of such activities and that no drugs would arrive from the sea route, as reported by news agency ANI.
While expressing his happiness, Pal said, "I'm very honoured and privileged to take over as the 25th DG of the Indian Coast Guard. My priorities are to make sure that our Coast Guard charter of duties for which we are mandated, we are going to fulfil that. We are going to ensure gap-free surveillance and coastal security. We are having very good synergy and coordination with multi-stake agencies. We are looking forward to ensuring that the coastal security apparatus is as per the SoP which is in place."
He then emphasised on Indian Coast Guard's commitment to anti-drug operations and said, "Coast Guard has been doing a lot of operations in the coastal states and as a result of which we have apprehended a lot of drugs, narcotics and including weapons...Our main focus has always been on anti-drug operations and ensuring that our coasts are not being used for the transhipment of drugs. We are working on all the strategies so that we ensure that every drop of water we patrol and we'll make sure that these kinds of activities do not come from the sea route."
The 25th DG then talked about how his unit has been aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's slogan of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'. Pal said that the Coast Guard has always focused on self-reliance in fact, he said that most of their ships, and aircraft are indigenous only. The Coast Guard has set a target to see that at least 60% to 70% of their equipment and the entire platforms are Atmanirbhar, Made In India.
In order to achieve this, the unit has formed a team that is being sent across the country to see if there are some parts that can be manufactured in India. The Director General said that in the coming 2-3 years, he is looking to achieve at least 75% of the indigenisation of the unit's ships.
Rakesh Pal was elevated to the rank of Additional Director General in February 2022 and was posted at Coast Guard Headquarters, New Delhi. He was given the additional charge of Director General Coast Guard in February 2023.