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Module - II Para Military Forces

Structure and
Role of the Forces 6.2.4 Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)
ITBP was raised on 24 October 1962, under the CRPF Act, in the wake of the Sino-
Indian War of 1962. The ITBP was intended for deployment along India's border with
China's Tibet Autonomous Region.

In September 1996, the Parliament of India enacted the 'Indo-Tibetan Border Police
Note Force Act, 1992' to "provide for the constitution and regulation" of the ITBP "for
ensuring the security of the borders of India and for matters connected therewith". The
first head of the ITBP, designated Inspector General, was Balbir Singh, a police officer
previously belonging to the Intelligence Bureau. The ITBP, which started with 4
battalions, has, since restructuring in 1978 undergone expansion to a force of 56
battalions as of 2017 with a sanctioned strength of 89,432.
The ITBP is also trained in disaster management, and nuclear, biological and chemical
disasters. ITBP personnel have been deployed abroad in UN peacekeeping missions
in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Haiti, Western Sahara, Sudan,
Afghanistan and elsewhere. Two battalions of ITBP are deputed to National Disaster
Response Force.

6.2.5 Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB)

SSB is one of India's Central Armed Police Forces. It is currently under the
administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India.
Prior to 2001, the force was known as the Special Service Bureau (SSB). As of
2017, it has 76,337 active personnel in 67 battalions.
The previous role of the Special Service Bureau was to motivate and mobilise India's
border population for national security during times of peace as well as war and to
promote a sense of security and brotherhood among the population, in furtherance of
national integration. Its present-day role consists of preventing cross-border crime
and smuggling as well as other anti-national activities.

In pursuit of achieving this mandated task, the SSB has been conferred with certain
powers under the Criminal Procedure Code of 1973, the Arms Act of 1959, the
NDPS Act of 1985 and the Passport Act of 1967. The Government of India also
contemplates conferring additional powers under the Customs Act of 1962.
These powers are to be exercised within a belt of 15 km in the states of Uttarakhand,
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, running
along the Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan borders, as well as in any other area of SSB
operation.

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