STRESSED UNIFORMS

Men in uniform struggling to keep the stress of their life. Yes I, had taken the right beat to get

everyone’s attention. A soldier who saves afront never gives up against the perpetrations of the

country sometime gives up to the six lettered word STRESS.

According to details furnished, reported cases 591 of suicide in the Army, 36 in the Navy, while the

number in the Indian Air Force was 160 between 2014 and 2021.

The chief reasons for cases of suicide and fratricides in the armed forces are due to the following:

1. Prolonged exposure of the troops in the forward areas like Jammu & Kashmir borders and

north east borders.

2. Dignity of the soldiers, being demeaned and asked to do work which are not entitled

resulting in frustration and anguish.

3. Ineffectual/ inadequacies in the quality of leadership within army, leading to low morale or a

sense of discrimination amongst the low staffers.

4. Lack of fairness and transparency in postings and promotions.

5. Familial problems and financial condition of soldiers.

6. Denial of leave became the trigger point where they tend to fall in pit of suicides.

Adding to this not are the police personnel’s far apart, according to data 930 police personnels

committed suicide in last 5 years till Dec 2018.

The reasons for suicide among the police are manifold.

1. No fixed hours of duty, made to work anywhere up to 16 hours a day.

2. Considered to be on duty all the time.

3. Families are ignored for call of duty and this leads to familial conflicts.

4. Festivals are given a go-by as they have to be on duty to ensure peace in their areas.

5. Denial of leave is another sore point affects the efficiency of the police which leads to

frustration.

Many efficient measures had been taken like army introduced projects such as “MILAP” and

“SAHYOG” in the Northern and Eastern Commands to reduce stress among troops. Further, the army

and air force had established the “MANSIK SAHAYATA HELPLINE” to offer professional counselling

and mental health awareness during pre-induction training. Yoga and meditation had being made

part of the life.

The government is taking steps to fill vacancies in police department to ease their work load.

Awareness is the mother to cure of any problem, making the personnel self-aware can reduce the

such kinds of undesirable situation.

*The data taken from verified newspapers.