Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB)

SSB is a Border Guarding Force (BGF) under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs.     SSB was set up in early 1963 in the wake of the Indo-China conflict to inculcate feelings of national belonging in the border population and develop their capabilities for resistance through a continuous process of motivation, training, development, welfare programmes and activities in the then NEFA, North Assam, North Bengal, hills of Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Ladakh. The scheme was later extended to Manipur, Tripura, Jammu (1965), Meghalaya (1975), Sikkim (1976), border areas of Rajasthan and Guj arat (1989), Manipur, Mizoram and some more areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat (1988), South Bengal, Nagaland (1989) and Nubra Valley, Rajouri and Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir (1991).      In the forty years of its existence, SSB endeavoured to present a benign face of the government among border populace in the far flung and inaccessible areas subscribing to the ETHOS of Service, Security and Brotherhood. The local populace always found SSB standing steadfastly with them during difficult times.      Pursuant to the recommendations of the Group of Ministers on reforming the National Security System, SSB was declared as a border guarding force and lead intelligence agency (LIA) for Indo-Nepal border (January, 2001) and Indo-Bhutan border( March, 2004), the details of which are as under:- (a) Indo-Nepal Border:- Sl. No. State Total border length ( in Kms) 1 Uttarakhand 263 Uttar Pradesh 560 Bihar 729 West Bengal 100 Sikkim 99 Total 1751 (b) Indo-Bhutan Border :- Sl. No. State Total border length(in Kms) 2 Sikkim 32 West Bengal 183 Assam 267 Arunachal Pradseh 217 Total 699