What is SSB’s current strength?

SSB is almost a one lakh strong force now. It has a sanctioned strength of 99,500 at present and while there are some vacancies, they are likely to be filled by the end of this year. The process of filling these vacancies is already underway. The SSC has listed the vacancies and the forms have been collected from candidates. The examination process will now start soon. The staff selection commission conducts the majority of recruitments for the entire Central Armed Police Forces; this includes the posts of constables and sub-inspectors.

As of October 2018, SSB had over 18,000 posts lying vacant. Has anything been done to fill the vacancies?

Firstly, recruitment for general duty positions is being carried out by the staff selection commission. At the gazetted officers’ rank, the recruitment is being carried out by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and we are getting regular intakes at the assistant commandant level. The sub-inspectors and constables are being directly recruited by the SSC. There were delays in the recruitment by the SSC in the last two-three years but after the matter was taken up by the government and the ministry of home affairs, the recruitment process is back on track by expediting recruitment at these levels. Secondly, we are directly recruiting personnel for specialised cadres like communications, medical staff, etc. Therefore, overall, recruitments are going well, and we are able to fill vacancies every year.

In late 2017, the Union home minister operationalised a new intelligence set-up of the SSB. How effective would this new intelligence set-up be?

SSB came into existence in 1963 following the Indo-China war. It was basically an intelligence organisation working under the cabinet secretariat. It was a very practical and efficient organisation, especially with regards to intelligence gathering along the Indo-China border in areas like Uttarakhand, Ladakh, upper-Himachal, Arunachal Pradesh, and Assam. The organisation has always had an intensive background of intelligence gathering. Even till the Kargil war, SSB was primarily involved in intelligence gathering. Since 2001, SSB’s role has transformed to that of a border guarding force. Now we are assigned with the mandate of guarding the friendly borders