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‘Even I am under stress’ — Army chief jokes as he junks ‘soldiers under pressure’ report

Gen M.M. Naravane questions the sample size of the study by tri-services think tank USI that said over half of the over 13-lakh-Army personnel ‘seems to be under severe stress’.

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New Delhi: Army chief General M.M. Naravane Tuesday junked a study published by the tri-services think tank United Service Institution of India (USI), which said more than half of the over 13-lakh-strong Indian Army personnel seem to be “under severe stress”.

Asked about the USI study that created a storm in the defence circles, but was taken down later, Naravane said in a lighter vein: “Even I am under stress.”

The Army chief questioned the report over sample size and representation.

“I have read this report. I will say that the sample size was only 400. And I understand this is not an adequate sample size. If you want a 99 per cent accuracy with 1 per cent margin of error, then for such a study, 19,000 samples should have been taken. And for 95 per cent accuracy, it will come down to 7,000-8,000 sample size,” he said.

Highlighting that a sample size of 400 can’t accurately assess the stress factor, he said, “Maybe there is stress. Even I am stressed. But stress is not always a bad thing. Stress can also result in good work”.

He added that the Army has taken a number of steps to address concerns over stress, and also issued multiple advisories.

“We have taken into consideration what all factors can be there. For example, somebody might not be able to produce children, someone might not be getting married, someone’s child is in 12th, it also leads to stress about whether he/she will pass or not and whether the child will get admission or not. Some are stressed about their child’s marriage,” said Naravane.

“We have analysed all these factors and keeping this in mind, the company commander and the commanding officer keep talking to people in that category and try for solutions,” he said.

The Army chief added that suicide cases in the force, according to his information, are falling on an annual basis. “My facts and figures are that suicide figures have actually (come) down year on year,” he said.

There have been over 1,100 cases of suicide among various ranks since 2010.


Also read: Army halts monetisation of defence land plan amid Covid-induced real estate slump


The study in question

According to the USI study, the Army lost more personnel every year due to suicides, fratricides and untoward incidents than in response to enemy or terrorist activities.

The study — by a serving Colonel — and its summary was published on the think-tank’s website last month. However, it was removed on 8 January when it gained traction.

Some of the major organisational causes of stress among Army officers were identified as inadequacies in the quality of leadership, overburdened commitments, inadequate resources, frequent dislocations, lack of fairness and transparency in postings and promotions, insufficient accommodation and non-grant of leaves.

The main organisational stress factors, as perceived by Junior Commissioned Officers/Other Ranks, were delay and denial of leaves, excessive engagement, humiliation by seniors, lack of dignity, zero error syndrome, unreasonable restrictions on the use of mobile phones, poor quality of ration and cooked food, besides lack of recreational facilities and conflict with seniors as well as subordinates.


Also read: Ready to hold ground in eastern Ladakh ‘for as long as needed’ — Army chief Gen Naravane


 

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