Lt Gen. (Dr) Janak Raj Bhardwaj, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, and the President’s Honorary Surgeon, was born in the village of Garhi Sampla, district Rohtak, Haryana, on 25 April 1943.  His early  school education was in this village, after which he moved to schools in Simla and Chandigarh.   Following his graduation from the Maulana Azad Medical College MAMC, New Delhi in 1965, he went on to complete  his DCP in 1968, MD in 1973 and Ph.D in 1984.  Dr. Bhardwaj is a Fellow of RCP (London), Academy of Medical Sciences and ICP.  His special interest has been Neuropathology.  During his professional career he has occupied many coveted appointments including Professor and Head at at Armed Forces Medical College AFMC, Pune and Army Hospital Research and Referral, New Delhi. For his professional excellence he has been bestowed  a large number of awards including prestigious national research awards in the field of medicine.  Dr Bhardwaj  has been an examiner of various universities and is the Chairman, Pathology Board, National Board of Examinations, New Delhi and an Inspector of the Medical College of India MCI.  Dr Bhardwaj is a Visiting Professor of many universities and institutions in India and abroad. He has been associated with a large number of research projects. He has authored  many books  and has published 82 scientific papers in various national and international journals of repute.  He has also presided over prestigious national and international professional bodies like the IAPM, IAP and the Indian Association of Hospital Waste Management”.

           Having joined the army immediately after completing his MBBS degree in 1965, Dr Bhardwaj occupied the most prestigious post of DGAFMS, India.  .  During his service, Dr Bhardwaj was bestowed with the highest awards in the Armed Forces including the VSM, AVSM, and PVSM for his outstanding contribution for providing excellent medical logistics during the Kargil operations, the Gujarat earthquake and the tsunami disasters.. One of his most significant contributions as DGAFMS was the formulation and successful implementation of policy to address the problems of HIV/AIDS amongst the Armed Forces personnel and their families, including the promotion of IEC material and a special audio-video film ‘Akhari Dastak’. Dr Bhardwaj has vast international experience, having participated as leader of the Indian teams at the first International Workshop on Hospital Preparedness in NBC disaster scenarios at Tel Aviv, Israel, the fourth International Course for military medical personnel on LOAC at Spiez, Switerzland, APMMC – XIV at Brisbane, Australia and XXXVth ICMM at Washington under the aegis of World Health Organization. He was also given the honour to host the International Conference and CME on HIV/AIDS.

           Dr Bhardwaj was appointed Member of the National Disaster Management Authority with the status of Minister of State, Government of India, under the Chairmanship of the Honorable Prime Minister of India on 27 September 2005