Mind Over Body

M.P. Nathanael

An army major went berserk in the Rashtriya Rifles camp in Thanna Mandi area of Rajouri district on October 5 last year. He opened fire and lobbed grenades at his colleagues resulting in injuries to two officers including the commanding officer of the unit, until he was overpowered.

Earlier, on 12 April 2023, gunner Desai Mohan shot dead four of his colleagues in the army camp in Bhatinda on alleged grounds of harassment. The following day, a jawan Laghu Raj killed himself with his rifle while on sentry duty in the wee hours, at the same station.

The mounting figures of suicide and fratricide in the army have prompted the army authorities to seek the assistance of the Defence Institute of Psychological Research (DIPR) to carry out a study of the mental health of its over 14 lakh personnel and even their families. According to available data, as many as 259 army personnel committed suicide between 2016 and 2018, while the figure was 19 in the navy and 56 in the Indian Air Force (IAF). While there were four incidents of fratricide in the army during the same period, the navy had none, and one incident was reported from the air force in 2016. These comparative figures serve as a pointer to the working conditions and satisfaction levels prevailing in these forces.

Compare these figures with those of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) comprising the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), National Security Guard (NSG) and the oldest para-military force of the country, the Assam Rifles, and they turn out to be mind-boggling. CRPF tops the suicide figures. While 36 personnel chose to end their lives in 2018, it rose to 40 in 2019, 54 in 2020, 57 in 2021 and marginally dipped to 43 in 2022. Replying to a written question in the Rajya Sabha on March 15 this year, the minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai revealed that 436 personnel of the CAPFs committed suicide in the last three years. While 154 personnel of CRPF committed suicide in the last three years, 111 of BSF, 63 of CISF, 40 of SSB, 32 of ITBP, 30 of Assam Rifles and six of NSG ended their lives in the same period. Add to this the attrition figure of about CAPF 50,000 personnel quitting service, the matter turns serious, warranting immediate solution to this malady. As many as 11,884 personnel chose to bow out of service last year.

Among the CAPFs, it is the CRPF which is highly mobile. That adds to the woes of the per