New Delhi. The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) celebrated its 55th Anniversary Parade at its 25th Battalion at Ghitorni in New Delhi on December 24.
Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju took the salute of the parade and inspected the impressive parade with Director General, SSB SS Deswal. After the parade, Rijiju awarded President’s Police Medal for distinguished service and Police Medal for meritorious service in acknowledgment of their service to the Nation.
Later, there was a display of SSB troops, Dog squad, Dare Devil team and other arts by SSB personnel.
The MoS Home conveyed his wishes to the SSB for the Anniversary Day celebrations and congratulated the award winners for their dedication. He applauded the SSB for serving the Nation with the motto of “Seva, Suraksha and Bandutva”, wherever it has been deployed since its inception in the year 1963.
He said that SSB has become the second largest Border Guarding Force of the country and appreciated the Bal for operationalisation of its all 73 Battalions in a given span of time. The Government has approved creation of 650 posts for the intelligence set-up of Sashastra Seema Bal.
The Minister commended the achievements of SSB against perpetrators of various crimes, drug peddlers, illegal arms, wildlife and prohibited items on the border. He also appreciated the efforts of SSB against the menace & evils of human trafficking and expressed happiness that SSB has signed an MoU with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to impart training to the victims rescued from human traffickers and making them self-reliant.
The MoS Home said that SSB is the first Border Guarding Force of the Nation to induct women in the year 2007 for border guarding duties. He said that SSB has been performing its duties to guard India’s borders with friendly neighbouring countries, which is a challenging task in itself.
The Minister said SSB is also performing its duties in other parts of country such as J&K, LWE affected areas, and natural calamities hit areas, among others. SSB has its two battalions deployed in NDRF, he added. He also applauded SSB for its Civic Action programme, contribution to Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao programme and Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan and congratulated the sportspersons of SSB who have won medals at various national and international events.
SS Deswal, Director General, SSB spoke about the glorious history and initiatives of SSB since its inception. He also paid tributes to the personnel who made supreme sacrifice for the service of the nation. He said that presently the SSB has 18 sectors, 73 Bns and 710 BoPs and added the jawans are working with full dedication in extremely difficult and far areas, which are lacking in basic facilities.
The DG said that civil wing officials of SSB will be transferred to IB next year, which will open new opportunities to them. He further said that there are about 2,000 women personnel in the Force and SSB is making efforts to provide five per cent representation to women. Deswal said that SSB women personnel are being deployed along with Army Bn. to UN Mission of Congo.
Speaking about the achievements of last year, the DG said that SSB has made seizures of more than Rs 260 crores and apprehended more than 6,500 people. SSB has rescued 752 victims from 254 human traffickers in last one year, he added.
On this occasion, Rijiju also released the 55th Anniversary issue of ‘SSB Samachar’.
The SSB parade was attended by the Chief of Nepal Armed Police Force Shailendra Khanal, Deputy Chief of Mission, Bhutan, Sonam Tobgay, DGs of CAPFs and other dignitaries.
