The study says the Indian Army has been losing more personnel every year due to suicides, fratricides and untoward incidents than in response to enemy or terrorist activities.
Dharme Gowda's note reportedly mentions the recent ruckus in the legislative council, which saw BJP-JDS and Congress members hurling abuses and pushing each other.
CRPF has seen 45 suicides in 2020. Of these, 13 cases took place in J&K, 7 in the Northeast, 10 in areas affected by Left-Wing Extremism, and 15 in other parts of the country.
A 50-year-old man, his wife and a daughter committed suicide by consuming poison after the man suffered from depression due to heavy loss in the milk business.
The last time this matter flared up was when Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, in a very similar directive in April, called for the relocation of stray dogs in the capital.
Finance ministry says the proposed revamp will focus on structural reforms, rate rationalisation & ease of living, & will be deliberated upon in the coming weeks.
The project is meant to be a ‘protective shield that will keep expanding’, the PM said. It is on the lines of the ‘Golden Dome’ announced by Trump, it is learnt.
Now that both IAF and PAF have made formal claims of having shot down the other’s aircraft in the 87-hour war in May, we can ask a larger question: do such numbers really matter?
Useless study and useless article, no fact check, no proper analysis. Half baked analysis is the dangerous things. In 2016, 340,314 (0.020%) people out of population of 1.2 billion at that time committed suicide, Contrast this with Indian military, where only 110 (0.008%) people died per year out of 13 lakh. A non-military Indian is 2.5 ties or 250% ore likely to commit suicide. This data and study proves that some soldiers commit suicide but by joining the military their chances of committing suicide are dramatically reduced.
We have to recognize that have de facto been in a state of war since at least 1989, when the Kashmir insurgency began. And there never really has been a peace in the North East even before that. Operating in these situations, quite apart from the normal rigors of military life – entailing long absences from home, tough work conditions and so on – are bound to take a toll on our soldiers, and incidentally others like policemen as well. More needs to be done to improve welfare, ensure adequate time away with families, change in work culture and internal management styles and so on.
As recently as WWI – if not later – what was knows as “shell shock” and is now recognized as post traumatic stress, was an offense punishable by death in many armies. There is an institutional way of maintaining discipline that has since changed in greatly beneficial ways, but much, much more needs doing. The first and most obvious is to recognize there is a problem – bot suppress such reports – and put in place an approach to reduce stress, detect early signs that a soldier or policeman is struggling with his / her mental well-being, and institute a system of immediately assisting in a humane way. We owe this to our men and women in uniform. And do not forget the families they leave behind when they go off to serve – they, too, pay a big price in many ways.
Leadership has a major role to play as well, by behaving in a way that upholds peace, dignity, respectful behavior, tolerance and so on. An atmosphere of machismo, antagonism and super-man ship does not help anyone.
It’s a shame the report has been suppressed. These things should be aired and corrective measures taken, in the interest of the men and women of the armed forces and their families. Suppression is a sign that there is a problem, and that the leadership lacks the confidence or will to tackle it.
Or simply a sign that it was BS since the suicide rate is 2.5x lower than in the remainder of the population…
These issues are the termites which can eat into even the most sturdy trees. It is not an easy matter to live with uncertainty about one’s likelihood of being alive tomorrow. Most of us wouldn’t survive.
In a non-conscript army the motivation for joining the forces is very different.
The major organizational causes of stress among Army officers have been 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.
These are common in all walks of life and a non-conscript army is much better equipped to deal with it. The stress reasons differ from individual to individual.
To the extent possible this needs to be addressed. The inevitability of stress under the CI (counter- insurgency)/CT (counter-terrorism) environment cannot be wished away.
Useless study and useless article, no fact check, no proper analysis. Half baked analysis is the dangerous things. In 2016, 340,314 (0.020%) people out of population of 1.2 billion at that time committed suicide, Contrast this with Indian military, where only 110 (0.008%) people died per year out of 13 lakh. A non-military Indian is 2.5 ties or 250% ore likely to commit suicide. This data and study proves that some soldiers commit suicide but by joining the military their chances of committing suicide are dramatically reduced.
We have to recognize that have de facto been in a state of war since at least 1989, when the Kashmir insurgency began. And there never really has been a peace in the North East even before that. Operating in these situations, quite apart from the normal rigors of military life – entailing long absences from home, tough work conditions and so on – are bound to take a toll on our soldiers, and incidentally others like policemen as well. More needs to be done to improve welfare, ensure adequate time away with families, change in work culture and internal management styles and so on.
As recently as WWI – if not later – what was knows as “shell shock” and is now recognized as post traumatic stress, was an offense punishable by death in many armies. There is an institutional way of maintaining discipline that has since changed in greatly beneficial ways, but much, much more needs doing. The first and most obvious is to recognize there is a problem – bot suppress such reports – and put in place an approach to reduce stress, detect early signs that a soldier or policeman is struggling with his / her mental well-being, and institute a system of immediately assisting in a humane way. We owe this to our men and women in uniform. And do not forget the families they leave behind when they go off to serve – they, too, pay a big price in many ways.
Leadership has a major role to play as well, by behaving in a way that upholds peace, dignity, respectful behavior, tolerance and so on. An atmosphere of machismo, antagonism and super-man ship does not help anyone.
It’s a shame the report has been suppressed. These things should be aired and corrective measures taken, in the interest of the men and women of the armed forces and their families. Suppression is a sign that there is a problem, and that the leadership lacks the confidence or will to tackle it.
Or simply a sign that it was BS since the suicide rate is 2.5x lower than in the remainder of the population…
These issues are the termites which can eat into even the most sturdy trees. It is not an easy matter to live with uncertainty about one’s likelihood of being alive tomorrow. Most of us wouldn’t survive.
In a non-conscript army the motivation for joining the forces is very different.
The major organizational causes of stress among Army officers have been 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.
These are common in all walks of life and a non-conscript army is much better equipped to deal with it. The stress reasons differ from individual to individual.
To the extent possible this needs to be addressed. The inevitability of stress under the CI (counter- insurgency)/CT (counter-terrorism) environment cannot be wished away.