Who has become the first woman to be appointed as the Director General of the…

The Director General of Armed Forces Medical Services (DGAFMS) is the apex tri-service medical authority in India, functioning directly under the Ministry of Defence. The DGAFMS frames and coordinates overall medical policy for the Army, Navy, and Air Force together, which is why the post is distinct from the single-service Directors General of Medical Services (DGMS) that each of the three forces has separately.

Surgeon Vice Admiral Arti Sarin took over as the 46th DGAFMS on 1 October 2024, becoming the first woman ever appointed to this tri-service post. Commissioned into the Armed Forces Medical Services in December 1985, she has the rare distinction of having served across all three wings of the Indian Armed Forces, having earlier held the appointments of DG Medical Services (Navy), DG Medical Services (Air), and Director and Commandant of the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune.

Cross-checking against the other names in the options confirms none of them held the tri-service DGAFMS post:

• Lt. Gen. Punita Arora became the first woman Lieutenant General of the Indian Army in 2004 and was later appointed DG Medical Services (Navy) in 2005 — a single-service post, not DGAFMS.

• Lt. Gen. Madhuri Kanitkar became the third woman to reach the rank of Lieutenant General (2020) and served as Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Medical) — a tri-service advisory role, but not the DGAFMS chair itself.

• Lt. Gen. Kavita Sahai was appointed DG Medical Services (Navy) in October 2024, becoming the first woman to hold that single-service Navy post — a different appointment from DGAFMS.