New Delhi, Jan 20: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Minister Amit Shah Saturday said that in the fight against terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) soldiers along with Jammu and Kashmir Police, paramilitary CRPF and BSF, and Army fought shoulder-to-shoulder, made sacrifices, and forged legendary tales of their bravery.
Addressing the 60th Raising Day celebrations of SSB as the chief guest at the SSB Recruit Training Center in Tezpur, Assam, the Home Minister paid tribute to the 51 soldiers of the force who made the supreme sacrifice for the security of the country.
He said that last year alone, five SSB personnel sacrificed their lives in the line of duty.
Shah said that the country was able to sleep peacefully only because of the soldiers who were willing to give the supreme sacrifice to protect the country.
Remembering Paramvir Chakra awardee Karam Singh on his death anniversary, he said that Singh had sacrificed his life giving an example of great bravery and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had, in his memory, named an island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as Karam Singh Island.
The Home Minister said that today many projects related to SSB had been inaugurated at Rs 226 crore, which include 45th Battalion Headquarters Veerpur, 20th Battalion Headquarters Sitamarhi, housing at Reserve Battalion Headquarters Barasat, barracks, mess, hospitals and various other facilities like quarter guards, stores and garages.
He said that PM Modi had taken many steps in the last nine years to improve facilities for all the Central Armed Paramilitary Forces (CAPFs) including SSB.
Shah said that the Centre had released a postage stamp on the occasion of the 60th diamond jubilee of SSB.
He expressed confidence that this postage stamp would always symbolise and keep the dutifulness of SSB alive in front of the country.
The Home Minister said that the SSB, deployed in the service and security of the nation with the motto of service, security, and brotherhood, had a very glorious history.
“SSB was established in 1963 after the India-China war. Thereafter, when Atal ji implemented the policy of One Border, One Force, SSB has been very dutifully manning the India-Nepal border since 2001 and the India-Bhutan border since 2004,” he said.
Shah said that SSB was guarding the 2450 km long open borders with full alertness and be it forest, mountain, river or plateau, SSB personnel had never compromised with duty in any type of weather.
He said that among all the CAPFs guarding the borders, SSB was a unique organisation which had not only secured the borders, but also faced terrorists and Naxalites in difficult areas.
“The force has also done the work of meticulously storing all the cultural, linguistic, geographical, and historical information of all the villages near the India-China, India-Nepal, and India-Bhutan border,” the Home Minister said.
He said that this unique work helps in connecting all such villages with the country through their cultural and linguistic history, and it also helps in confirming and strengthening India’s claim wherever there are border disputes.
Shah said that these operations demonstrate the versatility of the SSB, and have greatly benefited the country in maintaining the cultural integrity of India’s borders and strengthening India’s claims in disputed areas.
He said that in the last year, SSB had arrested more than 5000 smugglers and seized 24,000 kg of drugs, 144 weapons and a huge amount of ammunition.
“It also rescued about 500 innocent persons from human trafficking,” the Home Minister said.
He said that SSB soldiers, along with protecting the borders with friendly countries like Nepal and Bhutan, were also performing duty in the Naxal-affected areas of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Bihar.
Shah said that SSB along with CRPF and BSF had marginalised the Naxal movement.
He expressed confidence that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the entire country would be 100 percent free from the Naxal problem within the next three years.
The Home Minister said that SSB had also performed well in the field of sports.
He said that SSB had won 234 medals this year in national and international competitions.
“The Ministry of Home Affairs has decided to formulate a policy at the central level to promote sports in all our CAPFs and soon this policy will come in front of you,” Shah said. “I am myself looking at how the benefits of this policy will be available at barrack level with scientific arrangements and the Home Secretary is also monitoring it.”
He also congratulated the SSB soldiers who won a bronze medal in athletics at the Asian Games.
The Home Minister praised the work done by SSB in the field of women empowerment.
He said that SSB had set a target of increasing the number of women personnel in the force to six percent by 2026 and had already achieved the target of 4 percent.
“Apart from this, SSB women soldiers have also taken part in challenging duties like the UN Mission and Amarnath Yatra,” Shah said.
He said that the Vibrant Village Scheme was the gift of PM Modi to the border villages.
“This scheme has been brought with a new conception that the border village is not the last village of the country but the first village of the country, and the country begins from there,” he said.
The Home Minister said that the Modi government was moving forward with this new concept and work culture.
“SSB is also doing good work for the overall development of villages with 100 percent saturation. SSB has played a big role in taking the schemes of the Government of India and the State Governments to the grassroots level. SSB has also prepared a good model of making the villagers a partner in border security,” he said.
Shah said that ever since Modi became the PM of the country, a big campaign had been launched to fill the vacant posts and distribute the workload of border security personnel.
He said that recruitment against 1.75 lakh vacancies had been completed since 2014.
“This is more than double the recruitments that take place in any other nine-year period. This shows that the Modi government is committed to reducing the workload of CAPF personnel. In previous years, bonus marks have been kept for NCC cadets to expedite recruitment and selection of eligible candidates. Youth from border districts and militancy-affected districts have been given priority. To compensate for the time lost due to COVID-19, a relaxation of three years has been given in the age limit. Apart from this, the Modi government has given 10 percent reservation to Agniveers under the Agneepath scheme,” the Home Minister said.
He said that to bring about a revolutionary change in the criminal justice system of the country, three laws had been brought in a new form and placed before the people of the country.
“The purpose of these laws is to provide justice to the people of the country, whereas the purpose of the earlier laws was to punish. Now the entire process after FIR will be completed within three years and the delay in justice will end. He said that with the implementation of these laws, our criminal justice system will be the most modern in the world, it will also greatly increase the conviction rate because forensics has been given a lot of importance in it. He added that the visit of the forensic officer has been made mandatory by law for all crimes punishable with the imprisonment of 7 years and above,” Shah said.
He said that all the SSB units were purchasing milk, cheese, fruits, vegetables and grains from the local villages, which was a huge effort towards employment and economic development in the villages.
“Along with this, SSB has also done good work in the fields of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Swachh Bharat Mission, water conservation, ban on single-use plastic, Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat and Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. To accelerate the tree plantation campaign, more than 5 crore trees have been planted through CAPF in 5 years,” the Home Minister said.
He said that under Ayushman CAPF, cards had been given to more than 40 lakh CAPF personnel, 11,000 new houses had been built in the last 5 years under the housing scheme, and about 52,000 vacant houses have been allotted through the e-Awas portal.
“Prime Minister Scholarship Scheme has been made scientific so that it reaches every child. Along with this, the rules for Kendriya Police Kalyan Bhandar have also been simplified,” Shah said.
Chief Minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma, Union Home Secretary, Director General SSB, and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.