Air Marshal Sandeep Thareja assumes charge as 47th DG Armed Forces Medical Services
New Delhi, Sep 1. Air Marshal Sandeep Thareja assumed charge as the 47th Director General Armed Forces Medical Services (DGAFMS) on September 1, 2026, taking over responsibility for the overall medical support provided to the country’s Armed Forces.
As DGAFMS, Air Marshal Thareja will oversee the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) at a time when military healthcare is undergoing significant transformation, with the focus increasingly shifting towards operational medical preparedness, jointness among the three services, modernisation of healthcare infrastructure, digital health, medical research and innovation, human-resource development and quality healthcare for serving personnel, veterans and their dependants.
An alumnus of the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune, Thareja was commissioned into the Army Medical Corps in December 1986. A specialist physician and gastroenterologist, he obtained his MD in Medicine from Delhi and DM in Gastroenterology from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.
During a career spanning nearly four decades, Thareja has held a wide range of clinical, academic, operational and administrative appointments. His key assignments included Commandant of 167 Military Hospital, Brigadier In-Charge Administration and Commander Troops at Base Hospital Delhi Cantt, and Commandant of Command Hospital, Central Command.
His tenure at Base Hospital Delhi Cantt coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, during which he handled complex and rapidly evolving medical and administrative challenges. As Commandant of Command Hospital, Lucknow, he also oversaw the preparation of the Detailed Project Report for a new Command Hospital in record time.
As Director and Commandant of AFMC Pune, Thareja initiated several measures aimed at strengthening medical education and research. Subsequently, as Director General Medical Services (Air), he played a key role in advancing the medical aspects of the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission and spearheaded initiatives involving astronaut selection and training through analogue experiments.
He was also associated with humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) initiatives involving the deployment of BHISHM (Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog Hita & Maitri) medical cubes. The portable medical units were gifted to the Maldives by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and were also utilised as part of HADR assistance extended to Jamaica, Cuba, Sri Lanka and Myanmar under his stewardship.
Prior to assuming charge as DGAFMS, Air Marshal Thareja paid homage to India’s fallen soldiers by laying a wreath at the National War Memorial in New Delhi.
His appointment comes as the AFMS seeks to strengthen its capabilities to provide integrated and technologically advanced healthcare support across the spectrum of military operations, while meeting the healthcare requirements of serving personnel, veterans and their families.
