Lucknow, Oct 23: A uniformed force raised primarily for guarding
India’s borders with Nepal and Bhutan is going through a transformation process
and very soon it might be saddled with multifarious tasks. The
not-so-commonly-known Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), previously known as Special
Services Bureau, was set up in 1961 in the wake of the Sino-Indian war with a
view to keeping a tab on suspicious activities and movements along the border.
In an exclusive interview with UNI, Alok Sharma, Inspector-General (Lucknow
Frontier), described SSB as a “very people-friendly force.” “Where state
government and central departments fail, SSB succeeds in getting things done
for the welfare of the people. We are definitely the real representatives of
the central government in border areas. That is our mandate,” he pointed out.
“With SSB operating in the border areas, the local population has developed a
sense of security. Petty crimes have been curbed to a large extent,” he added.
“With us on the ground, we project the need of the population in border areas,
such as the need for proper roads, electricity, schools, health centres etc. In
the border areas, the district magistrate is the nodal authority for channeling
funds for development programmes. So, when roads are being built right up to
the border point, the road to development is opening up.” Mr Sharma claimed
that the mere presence of SSB in the borders areas had changed the lifestyle of
people in the border areas. “The forests that were depleting at an alarming
pace, have been saved. To a great extent illegal tree cutting and smuggling of
wood has been curbed. The forest department guards, though uniformed, were not
very effective as they were not armed and were small in numbers. On the other
hand, the SSB jawans are large in numbers and equipped with modern weaponry,”
he said. Speaking about the role of SSB in policing the porous and contiguous
India-Nepal border, an area where the presence of civil police is scant, Mr
Sharma said, “The SSB plays a dual role. Firstly, we guard the border.
Secondly, we build trust and confidence among the local population, local
community,” the IG said. “One of our thrust areas is encouraging people living
in border areas to give up criminal activities by providing skills for them to
earn a livelihood. We organise skill development camps regularly,” Mr. Sharma
pointed out. “Petty crimes are a sort of economic compulsion for the people,
especially the youth, living in border areas. If we provide them some via
media, we are confident that we can wean them away from criminal activities,”
he said. “The local people are the best source of intelligence gathering for
us,” said Mr. Sharma. “Whatever information and tip-offs we get, come from them
only. We are mostly dependent on human intelligence because half the areas we
serve in, are not covered by telecom operators and internet service providers.
That’s a shadow area. In any case, human intelligence beats tech intelligence
any day. Wherever required we take the help of local police,” he said. To keep
the local population engaged, the SSB organises community welfare and awareness
camps within the Indian territory. “But we also reach out to Nepalese people
when we organise free medical camps on our soil. Our social welfare activities
are open to people living on both sides of the border. We organise medical
camps and veterinary camps on a monthly basis,” he explained. Policing a porous
and contiguous border area is altogether a different ball game. Very often one
wouldn’t know whether it’s Indian territory or Nepalese. Describing the
topography and the challenges faced by SSB forces, Mr Sharma stated: “On the
Nepalese side, it’s predominantly plains, which means the land is precious for
them. On the Indian side, there are dense forests and the terrain is not very
hospitable. At some places it’s a riverine terrain. Due to the Indo-Nepalese
friendship treaty and visa-free regime, the movement of people and cattle is
not restricted. The free movement is, obviously, exploited by criminal
elements. A lot of trans-border crimes do happen, such as smuggling of
narcotics and other prohibited items, human trafficking, wildlife crimes,
illegal tree-felling and smuggling of wood for commercial purposes.” Pointing
out that there are border outposts every 3-4 kilometres, and checkpoints are
set up and mobile patrolling is done regularly, the IG Frontier said “still
criminal elements do exploit loopholes in the system.” The SSB officer said,
“Let’s not talk about religion or sects... the problem is economic. Those who
are poor come to our camps, irrespective of their faith. In fact, they eagerly
look forward to the camps of SSB. We are welcome into the houses of both Hindus
and Muslims, because we don’t carry any symbol of religion with us. We carry
the symbol of the State and we are there for everyone.” Mr Sharma told UNI,
“Wildlife crimes are not so rampant, but in some parts of Kheri area there are
certain villages and people living in those villages are traditional hunters.
They take pride in being hunters. They also indulge in criminal activities. We
keep a tab on them. Hunting has reduced because of our presence in the jungles.
They know that during night time if they fire weapons they will be exposed. Our
presence deters them. And we also keep visiting them and warning them that they
are being watched. This is not to say that they have given up wildlife crimes
totally. They might use other means to kill animals, such as laying traps.”
Talking about the role of women in the SSB, Mr Sharma gave high marks by
saying, “Women succeed where our male officers fail. During interrogation when
the hard line breaks, softer line succeeds. They are very useful. Half the
traffic that we handle is women. For checking, frisking and interacting they do
a better job than men.” Mr Sharma said for better coordination and
accountability, SSB is divided into six frontiers– Ranikhet, Lucknow, Patna,
Siliguri, Guwahati and Tezpur. The Lucknow Frontier, of which Mr Sharma is
in-charge, controls the 490-kilometre stretch along the India-Nepal border and
eight battalions man the two sectors -- Gorakhpur and Lakhimpur Kheri – spread
over six districts of Lakhimpur Kheri, Bahraich, Shrawasti, Balrampur,
Siddharthnagar and Maharajganj. UNI
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SSB succeeds where others fail: IG Lucknow Frontier
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