Antony orders study to reduce stress,improve ties within Army

After a series of clashes between officers and soldiers that shook the Army over the past year,Defence Minister AK Antony has ordered a special study to suggest changes for reducing stress levels among officers and suggest methods to improve their relations with the men they command

After a series of clashes between officers and soldiers that shook the Army over the past year,Defence Minister AK Antony has ordered a special study to suggest changes for reducing stress levels among officers and suggest methods to improve their relations with the men they command.

The special study,which comes after at least three serious clashes between officers and soldiers in just over a year,will look into the stress levels faced by officers at command assignments and the leadership qualities required to cope with modern challenges.

The study,to be conducted by the Defence Institute of Psychological Research DIPR,will also carry out an assessment of the current training being imparted by armed forces academies to officers and the changes required to meet emerging challenges. This is the first time a special study has been ordered for officers in the armed forces.

The study was ordered during a high-level meeting that was conducted in South Block by Antony on the issue of increasing fratricide,suicides and officer-men clashes that have taken place in the recent past. The meeting was attended by the Vice Chiefs of all the three forces as well as ministry officials.

The three recent officer-soldier clashes in Tibri Gurdaspur,Nyoma and Samba have caused serious concern within the armed forces with Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh even asking officers to change with the times to understand the aspirations of the soldiers that they command. One of the main reasons behind the recent clashes was failure on part of the officers to treat soldiers with dignity. As many as 57 Army soldiers have committed suicide this year.

Several other steps to reduce stress and tension levels of soldiers and officers were also discussed on Thursday with Antony directing the three armed forces to issue instructions that all leave applications should be responded to at the earliest.