About Me
Prakash Singh
Prakash Singh has been a very distinguished police officer with an excellent track record for combating terrorism/insurgency in the most turbulent theatres of the country. He served – and occupied the highest positions – in the most volatile areas of Nagaland, Assam, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.
Singh was Police Chief of two of the largest states of India – Uttar Pradesh and Assam. He also commanded India’s premier paramilitary outfit, the Border Security Force.
Taking salute as DG BSF on BSF Raising Day Parade
Inspecting Parade as DG BSF
With jawans on Border Outpost in Kashmir
Showing Border Fencing in Punjab to PM VP Singh
With PM Chandrashekhar and BSF Founder KF Rustamji
Padma Awardee
The Government of India, in recognition of his contribution to national security, awarded him the ‘Padmashri’ in 1991.He was also given the State award by the Government of Uttar Pradesh, and is recipient of the Police Medal for Meritorious Services and President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Services
President Venkatraman awarding the Padmashri
With fellow Padmashri awardees at the ceremony –
Dilip Kumar and Shyam Benegal
Prolific Writer
A prolific writer, Prakash Singh has written ten books so far. Six of these were published in India: Nagaland, The Naxalite Movement in India, Kohima to Kashmir, Internal Security Challenges and Responses, The Struggle for Police Reforms in India, and Prayagraj Kumbh, which was edited by him. Three other books were published in USA: India’s Northeast: The Frontier in Ferment; Irregular Warfare: The Maoist Challenge to India’s Internal Security, and Disaster Response in India. One book, Histoire du Naxalisme, was published in France.
Besides, he has contributed about 350 plus articles to the editorial and op-ed pages of national newspapers, magazines and journals. He has also given lectures all over the world in Universities, Think Tanks, Police Institutes, Defense Colleges and international seminars.
Police Reforms
Singh is the architect of Police Reforms in the country. His PIL in the Supreme Court led to a landmark judgment in 2006. The Indian Institute of Public Administration gave him the ‘Paul Appleby Award 2019’ for outstanding services in the field of public administration.
Present Status
Prakash Singh has been relentlessly campaigning for probity in public life. As member of Common Cause and India Rejuvenation Initiative, two reputed NGOs, he was involved in several PILs which sought to improve the quality of civil services and strengthen the anti-corruption mechanism of the Government. As President,HamariSanskriti, he is leading a movement against obscenity in public life.Singh has also been closely associated with the activities of Vivekananda Kendra.
Prakash Singh was Member, National Security Advisory Board (2013-14). Presently, he is Associate Fellow of the Joint Special Operations University (US). He is also Member, Advisory Council, Vivekananda International Foundation and Patron, Indian Police Foundation.
Family
Prakash Singh was born on 10 January 1936 in a Rajput Family in district Azamgarh of Uttar Pradesh, and had his education in Allahabad. Married to Savitri Singh, they were blessed with two sons. His elder son,Pankaj Kumar Singh, retired as Director General of Border Security Force in December 2022 and is presently Deputy National Security Advisor. His younger son, Piyush Kumar Singh, is a publicly recognized Insurance technology veteran, a F500 corporate executive, ran a successful software start-up with an exit and currently is the Cofounder of an IT company and on the Board of a few companies in the US.
Presently, Prakash Singh along with his wife lives in Noida, UP.