Published on: 2/3/2016IST

Anuj Tiwari Last updated on: 2/3/2016, Permalink

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Without precedent for India, the legislature has designated a lady IPS officer as the head of a paramilitary power. 58-year-old Archana Ramasundram, a Tamil Nadu unit IPS officer, will assume control as Chief General of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). The previous boss, B D Sharma, resigned on January 31. 

Archana will hold the post till the date of her superannuation on September 30, 2017. Here are five things to think about her:

1. Archana Ramasundram is a 1980-batch officer. Before her appointment to SSB, she was serving as the head of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

2. She has also served as the country’s first woman Joint Director of the CBI, handling cases related to economic offences between 1999 and 2006.

3. Before becoming the Joint Director, she was the Deputy Inspector General with CBI.

4. Prior to that she was the DGP and chairperson of Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board.

5. She was in the news in 2014 after her appointment as Additional Director of CBI.

Her appointment was challenged in the Supreme Court after which she was moved to the NCRB as its chief. The Centre approved Archana’s appointment and issued orders in February 2014, but the Tamil Nadu government did not send her relieving orders for about three months. On May 8, 2014, the officer joined CBI after informing the state chief secretary. However, the state government suspended her on charges of desertion. She was finally shifted to NCRB.

“I found her knowledgeable and extremely hardworking. More than these, she was willing to take responsibility for her decisions,” former CBI Director RK Raghavanonce said about Archana.

There are five paramilitary forces – Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), and Sashastra Seema Bal. The SSB is entrusted with guarding the country’s frontiers with Nepal and Bhutan.

All pictures: Facebook