To combat stress, Home will study minds of its men

Alarmed at the rising number of suicides and incidents of unprovoked firing among paramilitary personnel, the Home Ministry has directed all...

Alarmed at the rising number of suicides and incidents of unprovoked firing among paramilitary personnel, the Home Ministry has directed all such forces to prepare psychological profiles of their men involved in VIP security and on duty in sensitive areas.

The Ministry has also asked for the ‘‘unstable’’ to be removed, sources said, after a study by the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D) warned about abnormal stress levels in paramilitary forces. The Ministry has also directed all forces to strengthen their grievance redressal mechanisms.

The study—commissioned by the Home Minister—is learnt to have found that a majority of paramilitary personnel suffers from abnormally high stress levels.

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Results of the study, which was conducted in association with the Sree Ram Centre for Human Resources, was submitted to the Ministry early last week.

The CRPF has already instructed field units to remove personnel with any such ‘‘disorder’’ from important assignments. The BSF, meanwhile, is considering changing its training schedule and including community activities and yoga to reduce stress.

Besides long duty hours, the lack of basic infrastructure and transparency in transfer postings, insensitive leadership, and alcohol and drug abuse have been identified by BPRN&D as key reasons for stress.

This is the for first time that the Ministry has taken such a drastic step, with sources pointing to the increasing number of such incidents:

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• The number of suicides in the CRPF last year was 28, compared to 22 in 2003. And, 15 CRPF personnel were killed in firing by colleagues last year.

• According to BSF officials, 23 of its personnel have committed this year alone, compared to 20 in 2004.