First woman SSB chief: Will aim for more representation

The country on Wednesday got its first woman chief of a paramilitary force, with 1980-batch Indian Police Service officer of Tamil Nadu cadre Archana Ramasundram taking charge as the director-general of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).

Soon after taking charge, Ms Ramasundram said she would work for increasing their representation in the force. The first woman D-G was accorded a ceremonial guard of honour by SSB troops at the force headquarters as she took charge of her new post and donned the khaki uniform with the paramilitary insignia.

Ms Ramasundram, who was the director of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in her previous posting, is the first woman chief in over six-decade-long combined history of the five paramilitary forces — Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and SSB. A resident of UP, Ms Ramasundram holds two masters degrees, one each in arts and science. After taking charge, she told reporters: “I will always remember this day in my life and I wish to dedicate it to the women of India.”

“Leadership quality is more important than gender for tackling challenging assignments,” she said.