Over 700 paramilitary jawans died by suicide in last 5 years: Home Ministry

At least 730 personnel of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), National Security Guards (NSG) and Assam Rifles have died by suicide while 55,555 have resigned or taken voluntary retirement in the last five years, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday (December 4).

In a written response to a question, Rai said 144 suicides were reported in CAPF, NSG and AR in 2020, 157 in 2021, 138 in 2022, 157 in 2023 and 134 in 2024. This apart, while 47,891 personnel in these organisations took voluntary retirement, 7,664 resigned from their jobs in the same time frame.

Family issues, work pressure reasons for suicides

Attributing suicide triggers to both job pressure and family issues, the report shared by the minister said the latter has been found to be predominant cause for most of the deaths. The report said that the task force that studied the cause for suicide among CAPF jawans found that over 80 per cent of them ended their lives after returning to duty after leave.

“Mainly reasons include the death of a spouse or family member, marital discord or divorce, financial difficulties, and inadequate education opportunities for children,” the written reply said.

Also read: BSF retaliates harshly as mental health disorders, suicides rise among jawans When compared with men, a lower incidence of suicide was reported among women, indicating the reluctance of male personnel to share or vent out their grievances.

100 days leave

Rai said measures have been taken to implement a transparent, rational and fair leave policy and to regulate duty hours to ensure adequate rest and leave for personnel.

“Improvement in working conditions/amenities and welfare of CAPFs, NSG & AR is a constant endeavour of the government,” he said.

The Union Home Ministry is also ensuring that personnel get to spend more time with their families, the minister added.

He said till October this year, 6,302 personnel got 100 days of leave to spend time with their families. The figure, however was 8,636 in 2023, and 7,864 in 2021.

The minister said, generally, the working hours in the Central Armed Police Forces are eight hourly shifts. “This, however, varies depending on operational exigencies. Necessary leave/training reserve is built in the structure of Battalions so that the personnel get rest and leave,” he said.

Task force suggests remedial measures

Among remedial measures to prevent suicide and fratricide among CAPF and Assam Rifle jawans, the task force has suggested regular interaction of officers with soldiers to learn about and solve their issues. The report also suggests to regulate duty hours to offer adequate rest to jawans, improve their living conditions and engage them in recreation.

Also read: Peacekeeping not enough, overworked jawans now stung by beekeeping The report, however, says that across different forces, the “efforts made towards stress management are haphazard, sporadic and generally not carried to their logical conclusions.”

It has suggested for the implementation of a transparent leave management system, transparent transfer policy as well as a review of promotion policy to avoid the feeling of stagnation in career among jawans and keep their spirits high.

(Suicides can be prevented. For help please call Suicide Prevention Helplines: Neha Suicide Prevention Centre – 044-24640050; Aasara helpline for suicide prevention, emotional support & trauma help — +91-9820466726; Kiran, Mental health rehabilitation — 1800-599-0019, Disha 0471- 2552056, Maithri 0484 2540530, and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050.)