V.S. Pathania took charge as the Director General of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) on December 31.

Pathania replaced K. Natarajan, who served as the Chief of the ICG from July 1, 2019 to December 31, 2021.

Pathania is an alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, and National Defence College, New Delhi. He was elevated to the rank of additional director general in November 2019 and took over the reins as Coast Guard Commander (Eastern Seaboard) at Visakhapatnam. 

He is recipient of the President’s Tatrakshak Medal for Distinguished Service, Tatrakshak Medal for Gallantry and Director General Indian Coast Guard Commendation.

Indian Coast Guard

• Indian Navy has been designated as the authority responsible for overall maritime security including coastal and offshore security. Indian Navy is assisted by Indian Coast Guard (ICG), Coastal Police and other central and state agencies.

• ICG is a multi-mission organisation, conducting round-the-year operations at sea. Despite being relatively small, it has a wide range of task capabilities for both surface and air operations.

• A charter of duties is laid down in Coast Guard Act, 1978. 

• ICG is also designated as an authority responsible for coastal security in Territorial Waters including areas to be patrolled by Coastal Police.

• The Director General of ICG has been designated as Commander Coastal Command and is responsible for overall coordination between central and state agencies in all matters relating to coastal security. 

• The Coast Guard Headquarters (CGHQ) is located in New Delhi. For effective command and control, the maritime zones of India are divided into five Coast Guard regions — North-West, West, East, North-East and Andaman & Nicobar, with the respective regional headquarters located at Gandhinagar, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Port Blair.

Duties of Indian Coast Guard include:

• Ensure safety and protection of artificial islands, offshore terminals and other installations.

• Protection and assistance to fishermen and mariners at sea.

• Preservation and protection of marine ecology and environment including pollution control.

• Assistance to the Department of Customs and other authorities in anti-smuggling operations.

• Law enforcement in territorial as well as international waters.

• Scientific data collection and support.

• National defence during hostilities (under the operational control of the Indian Navy).

• True to its motto “Vayam Rakshamah”, meaning “We Protect”, Indian Coast Guard has to its credit of saving over 10,000 lives and apprehending around 14,000 miscreants since inception in 1977. 

• The deterrence created by the Indian Coast Guard is not limited to the Indian waters, but collaboration with friendly littoral states as per provisions of bilateral cooperation agreements resulted in successful apprehension and seizure of drugs in Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The real time information sharing, close coordination and understanding between ICG and other international agencies have been the highlights of these operations.

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