Sashastra Seema Bal is back in Kutch after a gap of 15 years

Bhuj

Sashastra Seema Bal(SSB) company that was removed from guarding the border areas of Kutch about 15 years back is going to return here as per a decision taken by central government.

It is learnt that one SSB company is soon going to be deployed in border district of Kutch. The headquarters of SSB at present is in Jamnagar. Nakhatrana and Bhachau in Kutch will come under it. Erstwhile defunct SSB headquarters at Nakhatrana in Kutch is being revamped for this purpose. It was this place from which SSB was operating in Kutch during 1988-2001. Later the entire SSB force in Kutch was shifted to Nepal and Bhutan border. SSB has total 90 companies.

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 fifty 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).

It is learnt that in Kutch, the role of SSB will be as reserved force, services of which shall be taken as per requirement time-to-time.

– DeshGujarat