Sashastra Seema Bal Sashastra Seema Bal or SSB ( Meaning : " Armed Border Force " ) ( Devanāgarī : सशस्त्र सीमा बल , ) is one of India ' s Central Armed Police Forces . It is often referred to as a paramilitary force ( although it is not one of the three officially defined paramilitary forces of India ) . It is currently under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs ( MHA ) , Government of India . It was formerly known as the Special Service Bureau . History . SSB ( Special Service Bureau ) was set up in early 1963 in the wake of the Sino - Indian War . The primary task of the force was to provide armed support for RAW . and secondary task was 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 programs and activities in the then NEFA , North Assam ( northern areas of Assam state ) , North Bengal ( northern areas of West Bengal state ) , 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 Gujarat ( 1989 ) , Manipur , Mizoram and some more areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat ( 1988 ) , South Bengal ( southern areas of West Bengal state ) , Nagaland ( 1989 ) and Nubra Valley , Rajouri and Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir ( 1991 ) . It was specifically created as the brainchild of Indian think tank to counter the Chinese . It was believed that militarily , the Chinese were superior to India and in the event of a war , the Chinese would overwhelm Indian forces . So in 1963 a unique force was created , which would in the event of Chinese occupation merge with the border population , donning civilian attire , working a parallel administration and carry out the war of India with the help of guerrilla tactics . The SSB came out to be successful which was evident by the success it achieved by training Mukti Bahini in Bangladesh and other places , COIN Op ' s in the north - east , and providing security at high peaks during Indo - Pakistani War of 1971 and Kargil War . From the Cabinet , SSB was transferred to Ministry of Home Affairs and assigned the duties of manning the Nepal and Bhutan borders . SSB was renamed as " Sashastra Seema Bal " in accordance with its new role and come under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs in the year 2001 . This was done after Kargil War when " one border one force concept " was adopted . 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 a 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 assigned the task of guarding the 1751 km long Indo - Nepal border along the states of Uttarakhand , ( 263 . 7 km with 3 districts ) , Uttar Pradesh ( 599 . 3 km - with 7 districts ) , Bihar ( 800 . 4 km - with 7 districts ) , West Bengal ( 105 . 6 km - with 1 district ) and Sikkim ( 99 km ) . In March 2004 , SSB was assigned the task of guarding the 699 km stretch of Indo - Bhutan border along the states of Sikkim - ( 32 km ) , West Bengal ( 183 km - with 2 districts ) , Assam ( 267 km - with 4 districts ) and , Arunachal Pradesh ( 217 km - with 2 districts ) . Since then SSB was re - christened into Sashastra Seema Bal and reached new heights . SSB is the first border guarding force which has decided to recruit women battalions . It is doing excellent job as Border Guarding Force on INDO - NEPAL and INDO - BHUTAN Border . SSB is also engaged in Counter Insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and Anti naxal operations in Jharkhand and Bihar . It is also performing internal security duties i . e . Election duties and law and order duties in different parts of India . SSB is celebrating the year 2013 as Golden Jubilee year marking fifty years of its raising . The celebrations have commenced with the Flag - off of a Mount Everest Expedition on 2nd April , 2013 from Delhi . The team led by Shri Somit Joshi , Commandant , successfully reached at the peak at about 9 . 45 am on 21 May 2013 to commemorate the 50th anniversary . Role . The role of SSB consists of the following : - ( a ) To promote sense of security among the people living in the border areas . ( b ) To prevent trans - border crimes , and unauthorised entries entry or exit from the territory of India . ( c ) To prevent smuggling and other illegal activities . To achieve the above ojectives , Ministry Of Home Affairs ( MHA ) Govt of India has conferred various powers to SSB personnel under Criminal Procedure Code 1973 , Arms Act 1959 , NDPS Act 1985 and Passport Act 1967 . The GOI is also contemplating to confer powers under Customs Act 1962 . These powers are to be exercised within a belt of 15 kilometers in the states of Uttarakhand , Uttar Pradesh , Bihar , West Bengal , Sikkim , Assam and Arunachal Pradesh running along the Indo - Nepal and Indo - Bhutan border and in any area of SSB operation . Organization . The highest - level headquarter of the force is the Force Headquarters ( FHQ ) , also called the Directorate General of SSB , located in New Delhi . Force Headquarter ( FHQ ) is commanded by an officer of the rank of Director General . Director General is assisted by Additional Director General . Various Directorates like Operations and Intelligence , Personnel and Training , Administration , Provisioning and Communication , Medical , etc . function under the DG . Each Directorate is headed by an IG and assisted by DIG and other officers . Frontier headquarters ( FTR HQ ) is commanded by an officer of the rank of Inspector General ( IG ) comes next in chain of command after FHQ . FTR HQR in turn exercises command and control over the sector HQs . There are Five FTR HQRs situated at Ranikhet , Lucknow , Patna , Siliguri and Guwahati . The Sector HQs are commanded by Officers of the rank of Deputy Inspector General ( DIG ) . There are Fifteen Sector Headquarters located at Almora , Pilibhit , Lakhimpur Kheri , Gorakhpur , Bettiah , Muzzafarpur , Ranidanga , New Jaipaiguri , Gangtok , Bongaigaon , Rangia , Tezpur , Jammu and Kashmir and Alwar . The Sector HQ exercises direct command and control over the SSB Battalions deployed in its area of responsibility along Indo - Nepal and Indo - Bhutan borders . SSB Battalion having strength of 1172 personnel is commanded by officer of the rank of Commandant who is assisted by officers of the rank of Second - in - Command , Deputy Commandant and Assistant Commandant . Battalion is further divided into Companies and Border Out post ( BOP ) . There are seven Companies in a Battalion and Each Company consists three Border outposts . Company is commanded by Assistant Commandants and BOP is commanded by Sub Inspectors . MHA has sanctioned 73 Battalions for SSB for Border duties and Internal Security duties . ' Bold text ' Ranks . There are two wings in SSB namely Combatised wing ( Uniform Personnel ) and Area wing ( Non - Uniform OR Civil Personnel ) which perform duties assigned by the FHQ . Both wings have their own cadre . Combatised wing perform duties in Battalions on INDO - NEPAL AND INDO - BHUTAN BORDER whereas Area wing perform duties in Area primarily for intelligence collection . Training Centres . The training to force personnel of the SSB is given on training centres and additional training centres . Training to force personnel is imparted in following training centres on Counter Subversion , Border Management , Perception Management , and Survival & Other Professional Courses Designed to enhance performance . Apart from above there are Additional Training Centres at different places in which newly recruited constables are being trained .