ITBP and SSB: guarding the mountain borders

India's northern borders are guarded by two forces that SSC GD candidates can join. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) watches the Himalayan border with China. The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) watches the open borders with Nepal and Bhutan.

Both were born out of the 1962 war with China, and both work in the hills. But their jobs are very different. The ITBP faces a guarded border in thin air and deep cold. The SSB faces a border that friendly neighbours cross every day, and its task is to stop crime without stopping people.

The ITBP

The ITBP was raised on 24 October 1962, during the India–China conflict. It guards the India–China border, along the Line of Actual Control, from the Karakoram Pass in Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh. The border runs through Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

Its motto is "Shaurya – Dridhata – Karma Nishtha" (valour, determination, devotion to duty), and its personnel are often called "Himveers".

What makes the ITBP different

• Many posts are at high altitude, some above 4,000 metres, where the air is thin and winter temperatures fall far below freezing.
• Personnel learn mountaineering, skiing and survival in extreme cold. The ITBP runs a well-known mountaineering and skiing institute at Auli in Uttarakhand.
• It is often called for disaster rescue in the Himalayas: landslides, avalanches and cloudbursts.
• It has helped with security and support on the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra route.

A day at a high-altitude post

• Patrols along the border, sometimes over glaciers and high passes, that can last many days.
• Manning border outposts, some cut off by snow for months, supplied by road in summer or by air.
• Acclimatisation and fitness training.
• Keeping weapons, radios and generators working in the cold.

Staying healthy up high

• Acclimatisation: the body needs days to adjust to thin air, so personnel go up in stages.
• Altitude sickness: headache, nausea, breathlessness and unusual tiredness are warning signs. They must be reported, never hidden. The treatment is rest, medical care and, if needed, going down.
• Cold injuries: frostbite can damage fingers, toes and ears. Dry layered clothing and dry socks matter.
• Sun and snow: snow blindness is prevented with proper goggles.

The SSB

The Sashastra Seema Bal began in 1963 as the Special Service Bureau, created after the 1962 war to build resistance and morale in border areas. In 2001 it moved to the Ministry of Home Affairs and was given the job of guarding the India–Nepal border; in December 2003 it was renamed Sashastra Seema Bal. The India–Bhutan border was added in 2004.

Its motto is "Service, Security and Brotherhood".

An open border

The borders with Nepal and Bhutan are open. Under agreed arrangements, citizens of these countries can cross without a visa. So the SSB cannot simply stop everyone. Its job is to:

• stop smuggling of goods, drugs and fake currency;
• stop human trafficking, especially of women and children;
• stop criminals and anti-national elements from using the open border;
• let genuine travellers, traders and families pass.

This needs sharp observation, good judgement and good relations with local people.

Where SSB constables serve

The terrain ranges from the hot, flood-prone Terai plains to forests and foothills.

A day on the open border

• Checking people and vehicles at crossing points.
• Patrols along the border in plains, forests and hills.
• Intelligence gathering and cooperation with local police and the neighbouring country's border forces.
• Civic action: medical camps, sports and help in border villages.

ITBP and SSB compared

Before you choose

ITBP: Can you cope with altitude, cold and isolation? Months at a snowbound post, far from family, test the mind as much as the body.

SSB: Are you comfortable with patient checking work and daily contact with local people? You need to be firm and friendly at once.

For a side-by-side view of the BSF, compare life as a BSF constable. For the North-East, see Assam Rifles, SSF and NCB.

How to prepare now

• Build real stamina. Hill running or stair climbing builds leg strength for the mountains.
• Learn the Himalayan states and passes for GK: Karakoram Pass, Nathu La, Shipki La, Lipulekh.
• Know India's neighbours and which states border each one.
• Practise first aid for cold and heat.

Practice

1. Which force guards the India–China border?
2. When was the ITBP raised?
3. Which borders does the SSB guard?
4. What was the SSB originally called?
5. Why is guarding the Nepal border different from guarding the Pakistan border?
6. Name two warning signs of altitude sickness.

Answers:

1. The ITBP.
2. 24 October 1962.
3. The India–Nepal and India–Bhutan borders.
4. The Special Service Bureau.
5. The Nepal border is open: citizens can cross under agreed arrangements, so the focus is on stopping crime and smuggling rather than all crossings.
6. Any two of headache, nausea, breathlessness and unusual tiredness.