The Indian Minister of State for Home Affairs RPN Singh here on Friday released a postage stamp of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) depicting the force at work at difficult icy mountain terrain.

The SSB, which has the mandate of guarding 1751 km long India-Nepal border and 699 km long India-Bhutan border, has plans to increase its increase its strength to 96,000 by 2016 from the existing level of 75,000.

At present the SSB with its 75,000 officers and men maintain a 24x7 vigil long the country’s porous borders with Nepal and Bhutan, including the diverse terrain ranging from Tarai region to the rainforests of Assam and inhospitable high altitude terrain of Uttarakhand, Arunacha Pradesh and Sikkim. It is a force of choice for border population of states in which it is deployed.

SSB comprises of five frontiers – Ranikhet, Lucknow, Patna, Siliguri, Guwahati – and 12 sectors namely, Almora, Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Gorakhpur, Bettiah, Muzaffarpur, Purnea, Ranidanga, Gangtok, Panga, Bongaigaon, Tezpur. Out of its 57 battalions, five battalions are in IS duty in Jammu and Kashmir, three battalions in Jharkhand and Bhiar for anti-Left Wing Extremist operations and six more battalions are deployed in Chhattisgarh for the same operations.

SSB’s officers and men have brought glory to the country and earned 1 Kirti Chakra, 3 Padmashree, 6 Shaurya Chakra, 2 President’s Police Medals for Gallantry, 5 Police Medal for Gallantry, 48 President’s Police Medals for Distinguished Service, 319 Police Medals for Meritorious Service, 18 Prime Minister’s Medal for Life Saving, 2 Asadharan Sewa Praman Patra posthumously, 14 Sarvottam Sewa Praman Patra, 23 Uttam Sewa Praman Patra and many other civil awards.