NEW DELHI, Dec 17:
Expanding its area of operations, Sashastra Seema Bal will soon be deployed in terrorism-hit Jammu and Kashmir where it is set to undertake internal security related duties, SSB chief Arun Chaudhary said today.
About 8,000-10,000 men will initially be deployed for internal security related job in Jammu and Kashmir, Chaudhary, who took over the reins of the border guarding force as Director General a week back, said.
“We are ready to go in Jammu and Kashmir. This will be a new work in the next year, when we send 8-10 battalions (8,000-10,000 personnel) to theses areas. We will work with CRPF and BSF there and extend internal security related duties,” he said during an annual press conference here.
The DG said the proposal has been “more or less” approved by the Home Ministry and the force is likely to be deployed in Jammu and Kashmir by February.
Chaudhary also said the force will soon have a water-wing for patrolling the Indo-Nepal border. “In this financial year, we will be categorising the rivers. Rivers which basically have perennial water supply through out the year. So they will get the preference as far as patrolling is concerned. Then the priority will go to dry nallahs and other water resources which do not have sufficient water during the year.
“This year we will ensure that at least two places like East and West Champaran (Bihar) and other places where you have broad river length, is covered for patrolling,” he said.
The SSB guards 1,751 km Indo-Nepal and 699 km Indo-Bhutan borders.
There are large water bodies like rivers Kali, Sharda, Ghagra, Gandak, Kosi, Mechi running across and along the Indo-Nepal border.
Monitoring the movement through these water bodies become more difficult during rainy season and they become susceptible for exploitation by anti-national elements. The water-wing, which will be equipped with high speed boats, water scooters, inflatable boats, among others, will ensure effective patrolling, the SSB chief said.
The DG denied reports of Chinese incursions being made from the Indo-Bhutan border.
“As far as China is concerned, this border has not been used very frequently…We have not got any trace of China using this border. It will use the Burma border or Arunachal border for coming in. But not this border,” Chaudhary said when asked about instances of Chinese encroachment from the Indo-Bhutan border.
The SSB also plans to recruit more and more people from bordering areas, he said. “There is a plan to recruit people from border areas. We will try to increase representation of people from border areas such as Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand in the force. We want people to come in large number from such areas,” the DG said.
He said recruitment will be done as per the Government procedure and there will be no relaxation of qualification criteria.
Of the total of 65,594 posts (including combatised and non-combatised), 49,734 have been filled. The SSB plans to increase its strength to over 93,000 by March, 2015.
When asked about the attrition in the force, the DG said the percentage of personnel leaving was low.
“Attrition is a problem. Everybody wants to be cushy in his job. Most of the para-military forces have hard jobs. Jobs which are done in tough areas. The problem of attrition is there in other forces also. Similarly, there is a problem of attrition in our force also. The percentage is absolutely low,” he said. (PTI)
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