HOUSE PANEL CONCERNED OVER SUICIDES, HIGH ATTRITION IN CAPF

Over 600 Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel have committed suicide in the last five years (2018-2022), while 50,000 personnel from CAPF have exited the force either voluntarily or involuntarily during the same period, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) informed the Parliamentary Panel on Home Affairs.

According to data from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the CRPF has seen the highest number of suicide rates amongst the CAPF. About 230 personnel from the CPRF have committed suicide between 2018 and 2022, and 2021 saw the largest number of such suicide cases among the CRPF where it lost 57 of its personnel in the same year.

The BSF witnessed the second highest cases of suicide amongst its personnel and said that 174 BSF personnel took away their lives in the last five years, the highest being in 2021 when 44 of BSF personnel took the extreme step of ending their lives.

This is followed by the CISF where 89 personnel died by suicide in the last five years. The SSB, ITBP and the Assam Rifles (Ars) have seen 64, 51, 43 cases of death by suicide during the said period. The NSG, premier security and anti-terrorism squad have seen the least number of such cases in the last five year and recorded five cases of death by suicide between 2018 and 2022. The high attrition rate amongst the CAPFS has also raised a cause of concern with the Parliamentary Panel. According to the data from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the attrition rate is highest amongst the BSF, where more than 23,000 personnel have exited the BSF in between 2018 and 2022, while more than 13,000 personnel have exited the CRPF during the same period.

The highest attrition rate in both the BSF and CRPF was witnessed in 2021 and 2022 where in more than 11,000 personnel exited the BSF in both these years together more than 6500 personnel exited the CRPF in the same period.

Assam Rifles also witnessed a huge jump in the attrition rate from 2021 to 2022. Between 2021 and 2022, the attrition in Assam Rifles has increased from 123 to 537. CISF have also seen a rise in the number of attrition cases, where 966 personnel from the CISF exited the force in 2021, which increased to 1706 in 2022. It is believed that suicides and attrition in the CAPF is due to the stress of work and continuous prolonged postings in remote locations and difficult terrains which takes a mental toll on the personnel posted in these areas.

The Parliamentary Panel in its report presented to the Parliament noted, “The Committee is of the view that such a level of attrition may affect the working conditions in the CAPFS. Therefore, urgent measures may be taken to improve the working conditions significantly to motivate the personnel to stay in the force.” “The Committee also recommends that the CAPFS may follow a rotation policy of deployment so that the jawans do not stay in tough and inhospitable conditions for longer durations at a stretch. The Committee is of the view that this could help in reducing not only the tendency to seek transfers to preferred locations but also help in addressing attrition to a certain extent,” the Parliamentary panel further added.

It also advised the Home Ministry to conduct exit interviews among the personnel opting for voluntary retirement and resignation to assess the factors leading to attrition and undertake appropriate measures to address the concerns of the personnel so that attrition in the Forces can be curbed.

The Parliamentary Panel on Home Affairs is headed by BJP’S Rajya Sabha MP Brij Lal, who was also an IPS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre. He headed the UP police during the Mayawati government in the state as the DGP of UP Police.