New Delhi, Aug 25 (PTI) "I am very happy" was Prakash Singh's reaction after his son Pankaj Singh was on Wednesday appointed as the director general of the Border Security Force (BSF), a post held by him nearly three decades back.

This is for the first time that a son is stepping into the shoes of his father in the central paramilitary forces, said an elated 85-year-old Prakash Singh while his son was receiving congratulatory messages from people on his promotion as the BSF chief.

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Prakash Singh, a 1959-batch IPS officer, had retired from the BSF in 1994.

He is at present Chairman of the Police Foundation and Institute, a multi-disciplinary think-tank dedicated to work for police reforms and the improvement of policing through research, capacity building and policy advocacy.

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Considered as architect of police reforms in the country, Prakash Singh had petitioned the Supreme Court in 1996 for carrying out certain changes after which the government started giving a fixed tenure of two years at least to the chief of the Intelligence Bureau, the CBI, foreign secretary, the RAW's chief and the Union home secretary.

"I have no words to express as he (Pankaj) has risen to the highest ranks with his hard work," Prakash Singh told PTI over phone.

Prakash Singh is a very distinguished police officer of the country with an excellent track record for combating terrorism and insurgency in the most turbulent theatres of the country - Nagaland, Assam, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir.

The government, in recognition of his contribution to national security, awarded him the Padma Shri in 1991. He has authored six books.

He was member of the National Security Advisory Board (2013-14) as well as associate fellow of the Joint Special Operations University (US).

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)