Suicides by paramilitary personnel on the rise

Suicides by personnel of paramilitary forces have gone up since 2012. Most suicides were by staffers of the Central Reserve Police Force and the Border Security Force. Records show that 370 such incidents had taken place since 2012.

In the first two months of this year alone,14 cases have been recorded. Among those who committed suicides were two women.

Officials in the paramilitary forces attribute most suicides to family problems. Stress-related cases were very less. None of the senior officers committed suicide during this period.

As per the latest Home Ministry figures, 2012 witnessed 121 suicides while it decreased marginally to 115 the next year. Last year, it again increased to 120. Among the 370 cases, 22 were women.

The Central Reserve Police Force has the highest number of 131 cases closely followed by the Border Security Force, which had 124 cases during these years. The Central Industrial Security Force had 49 cases, Indo-Tibetan Border Police 21, SSB 22 and the Assam Rifles had 23 cases.

A senior paramilitary official said there was no need to panic as the numbers were not that high. “There is a perception that work-related stress is leading to increased number of suicides in the paramilitary forces. That is not correct. Suicides are prevalent in society,” the official said.

A study, he said, has noted that family issue is the main contributor to suicides in forces.
Answering a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju had said the factors in “most cases” were found to be “generally personal and domestic problems” like marital discords, personal enmity, mental illness and depression. However, he admitted, “in a few cases, it could be owing to work-related stress.” Many times families do not want to leave their villages and refuse to go with the personnel.

“Stress builds up when the personnel could not reach out to his families, when they are in need. This issue has to be addressed and we are working on housing proposals,” the official said.