The Sashastra Seema Bal was originally set up under the name Special Service Bureau (SSB) on 15 March 1963 (current raising day is 20 December, after the date of presidential assent to the SSB Act, 2007), following the Sino-Indian War of 1962.
The primary task of the force was to provide armed support to the foreign intelligence division of Intelligence Bureau, which later became Research and Analysis Wing; RAW (after its creation in 1968).
SCENARIO CHANGED AFTER THE KARGIL WAR :
The K. Subramanayam Committee’s Report was considered by a Group of Ministers for relocation of all Para-military forces to achieve optimum efficiency by assigning one border for each force.
SSB was declared as a Border Guarding Force in 15th January, 2001 under the Ministry of Home Affairs and renamed as "Sashastra Seema Bal" on 15th December, 2003. On 19 June, 2001 SSB was given the mandate to guard the Indo-Nepal Border (1751 Kms.)
The greatest moment of pride for the Organization came on 27th March, 2004 when it was awarded the President’s Colour. SSB also got the consent of the President of India, Smt Pratibha Devi Singh Patil on 20th December, 2007 for the SSB Act and Rule.
SSB’S PRESENT DUTIES :
SSB is now spread along the International border across Uttarakhand, UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
- Safeguard the security of assigned borders of India and promote sense of security among the people living in border areas.
- Prevent trans-border crimes, smuggling and any other illegal activities.
- Prevent unauthorized entry into or exit from the territory of India.
- Carry out civic action programme in the area of responsibility.
- Perform any other duty assigned by the Central Government.(SSB is being deployed for Law & Order, Counter Insurgency Operations and Election duty)
The challenges of manning the open border are more daunting than securing a closed border. The 2450 kms long Indo- Nepal and Indo- Bhutan border is more challenging because the open border not only provides alluring encouragement to traffickers and smugglers but, also offers huge opportunities for militants trained on foreign soil to infiltrate and pose a serious threat to national security.
It is extremely difficult to seal the entire border effectively owing to its porosity and visa free regime on one hand and social economic and cultural relationship of bordering countries on the other, but SSB, by virtue of its enormous past experience of working at grass root level in remote areas, is able to muster people’s support and cooperation besides physically guarding the border and maintaining its sanctity.
BEING A DARK HORSE , SSB IS ONE OF THE MOST PREFERRED FORCES BY CAPF ASPIRANTS.
