The incidents of increasing mental stress among armed forces personnel are worrying.

The increasing mental stress among the soldiers of the country’s paramilitary forces, who play a major role in maintaining the internal security of the country, is extremely worrisome. The surprising thing is that it has been increasing continuously for the last decade. It is not that the government or rather the Union Home Ministry is unaware of the seriousness of the problem but despite deliberations at all levels, no concrete results have been achieved yet. The seriousness of the problem can be understood from the fact that not only have the cases of suicide increased in the Central Armed Forces, cases of mutual firing are also coming to the fore continuously. In fact, we have to understand the functioning of military forces and paramilitary forces and the facilities provided will also have to be kept in mind.

There is no doubt that military forces are deployed on the border in difficult circumstances. Many times it is also seen that when their tenure at one place is completed, then after that they are posted in peaceful and less risky places, hence the military hospital for the soldiers also has the best facilities and expertise and the families of the soldiers are Better medical facilities also become available. On the other hand, deployment of paramilitary forces is completely fraught with difficult situations. Be it in Naxal affected areas or maintaining peace in Jammu and Kashmir or maintaining peace in Assam and North East. Apart from this, whenever there is unrest or disaster in any corner of the country, it is common for paramilitary forces to be deployed in the name of law and order. In such a situation, excessive work, service conditions and then personal reasons bring a sensitive person into depression very soon.

Paramilitary forces mainly include CRPF, Border Security Force, Assam Rifles, CISF, ITBP, SSB etc. According to the information given by the Home Ministry recently, 4940 mentally ill patients were identified in 2020, out of which maximum 1882 are from CRF, 1327 BSF, 530 Assam Rifles, 472 CISF, 417 ITBP and 312 SSB. According to the data of the Home Ministry, between 2017 and 2022, 57 personnel have lost their lives in mutual firing between soldiers of paramilitary forces, while between 2018 and 2022, 658 personnel have committed suicide. More or less, this situation still exists today. From this it becomes clear that mental stress is a big problem and there is an urgent need to take concrete measures to overcome it. Although many committees have been formed since the formation of a task force to find a solution to this problem, the changes that should have taken place in the situation have not happened till now.

In fact, in the modern lifestyle and fast-paced life, mental stress prevails in such a way that even after millions of efforts, a person becomes a victim of depression. Firstly, the circumstances at the workplace, secondly, family responsibilities, thirdly, immediate and long-term family problems, fourthly, not getting enough time to rest at the workplace, fifthly, not getting leave as per requirement or wish, along with many other minor reasons. Due to which the person goes under stress. Money problem also becomes a major reason.

The solution to this problem of mental stress becomes necessary because while mental illness is increasing, about 50 thousand people leaving the job prematurely in itself shows its seriousness. For all this it becomes necessary to have psychiatrists. If seen, there is a shortage of psychiatrists in the country as compared to other countries, whereas the availability of psychiatrists in paramilitary forces is even less. According to a rough estimate, there are 3 doctors in CRPF, 4 in BSF, 1 in Assam Rifles, five in ITBP and only one psychiatric doctor in SSB. There may be some increase or decrease in these figures, but in such a situation it would be meaningless to talk about the treatment of mental stress. For this, the government and non-governmental organizations working in this field will have to come forward. The government will also have to study the reports of the committees formed from time to time and come forward seriously in implementing the practical suggestions. Non-governmental organizations will have to make the areas of paramilitary forces their area of ​​work and conduct such activities so that tension can be reduced. For this, cultural programs, lectures, yoga classes, recreational activities and similar stress reducing activities etc. should be organized from time to time so that it can help in reducing stress. Similarly, along with the arrangement for providing services of psychiatrists, such provisions should be made in the service conditions for easy leave as per requirement and in the service conditions so that the employee does not feel any kind of inferiority complex when compared with other counterparts. One thing should be made clear that paramilitary forces should not be underestimated. Rather, the usefulness and role of these forces is highest in maintaining the internal security of the country. In such a situation, a comprehensive effort is required in time.

-Dr. Rajendra Prasad Sharma