Vijay Mohan
Chandigarh, December 7
The year 2022 has witnessed a noticeable dip in the number of deaths resulting from fratricide incidents in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) as compared to the preceding five years.
The number of such fatalities in the seven CAPFs that function under the Ministry of Home Affairs fell to six in 2022 from 11 deaths reported consecutively from 2019 to 2021. There were eight deaths in 2018 and 10 in 2017, according to data shared by the ministry in Parliament today.
A total of 57 personnel have lost their lives since 2017 in incidents where they have been fired at by their own colleagues. The highest number, 22, is from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), followed by 17 in the Border Security Force (BSF). No incident was reported from the National Security Guards (NSG) during this period.
The CAPFs include the BSF, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and Shashtra Seema Bal, which are the border guarding organisations, CRPF and Central Industrial Security Force, which are meant for internal security duties, Assam Rifles that has a dual responsibility of guarding the border with Myanmar and internal security duties in the northeast, and the NSG, which is a specialist counter-terrorism force. The combined strength of all CAPFs is about 10 lakh personnel.
The ministry has attributed personal and domestic problems like marital discord, personal enmity, mental illness, depression and financial related issues as the causes or circumstances behind most cases of fratricide.
The ministry has also listed out a series of measures being undertaken to improve the working conditions in CAPFs promote mental health and well-being of their personnel. This includes a task force has set up in October 2021 to suggest remedial measures for prevention of suicides and fratricide in CAPFs.
Other steps include transparent policies for transfer and leave and choice posting is considered to the extent possible after the personnel have served in hard areas. Also, the hospitalisation period due to injuries sustained while on duty is treated as on duty.
Regular interaction of officers with troops to find out and redress their grievances, ensuring adequate rest and relief by regulating duty hours, improving living conditions for troops, providing adequate recreational and entertainment, sports, communication facilities, etc, retention of accommodation by family of personnel posted in hard areas and provision of air courier services, and assured career progression schemes are other measures in place.
