tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4017910838017424020.post1103282261845297023..comments2024-03-15T11:19:44.509+05:30Comments on NewsWarrior: Suicides in Army: A comprehensive review neededNitin A. Gokhalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04632054380553596730noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4017910838017424020.post-31633887916127956772012-12-04T16:54:37.727+05:302012-12-04T16:54:37.727+05:30This comment has been removed by the author.Maddyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03190444256902283646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4017910838017424020.post-39883534661037522672012-08-13T08:59:53.582+05:302012-08-13T08:59:53.582+05:30Another point out of view by my elder cousin retir...Another point out of view by my elder cousin retired Brigadier Sunil Gokhale who spent more than 35 years in the Army. His father too retired as a brigadier.<br /><br />Here is his response:<br /><br />Suicides in the Armed Forces<br />The above mentioned problem has got considerable media attention, recently a newspaper gave out an agregate figure of suicides exceeding over one thousand in the last decade. An incident of a Jawan's suicide in one of the oldest and most decorated armoured regiment is also in the news. Suicides are a universal phenonmenon, . <br />Suicides are caused by psychological stress, officers undergo a psychological test at the point of selection at the SSB, even then some officers have commited suicide (your mother's cousin brother late Maj Mukund Kanhere a paratrooper also commited suicide sometime around 1964 in Agra). As for jawans, they do not undergo psychological tests like officer candidates, thus the possibility of persons who may not be able to sustain psychological rigours of military life getting recruited is a certainity. Such persons may be more prone to be driven to this extyreme step.<br />Suicides are generally attributable to failure of command and leadership, I feel this is not entirely correct, I have seen a jawan who came from a farmer family commit suicide after he came to know he had inherited a burden of agrarian debt exceeding Rs 6 lakh from his father who died of over consumption of alcohol. The jawan got himself insured from an unscrupolous insurance agent in his home town, reported back to unit and pulled the plug on his life, probably thinking his mother could claim insurance and clear the debt, this cannot be attributed to command failure. <br />What I am trying to say is that suicides should be not hastily reported by the media for the sake of sensational news. Also the lack of psychological screening of jawans need to be addressed by the armed forces.Nitin A. Gokhalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04632054380553596730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4017910838017424020.post-85812608511055694562012-08-13T03:21:48.744+05:302012-08-13T03:21:48.744+05:30Dear Trushant,
Agreed that I do not have enough d...Dear Trushant,<br /><br />Agreed that I do not have enough data but the Defence Institute of Psychological Research has done a lot of work on this since 2007. And most of their findings suggest that domestic stress followed by humiliation some times heaped upon soldiers by officers are the main triggers for suicides. But you are right. This needs a lot of better analysis is needed on this vital issue.Nitin A. Gokhalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04632054380553596730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4017910838017424020.post-36165003139310764412012-08-11T21:40:52.679+05:302012-08-11T21:40:52.679+05:30bulls eyebulls eyejagmohanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08866570041009789630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4017910838017424020.post-25254224959448658652012-08-11T19:39:28.021+05:302012-08-11T19:39:28.021+05:30Nitin,
Well written as usual..you have tried to ex...Nitin,<br />Well written as usual..you have tried to explore various aspects of this phenomenon.<br />Do we have enough data on the suicides to segregate / classify them on the basis of various parameters and perform root cause analysis? Am saying this because we have a pretty large number of incidents - avg 100 per year since 2003 - to find trends.<br />Parameters can be -<br />1. Geographical posting and duty assigned at the time of Suicide / Fragging<br />2. Unit to which the soldier was assigned to alongwith name of CO- To find any linkage with the leadership abilities of the COs<br />3. Rank of the soldier - Can we get financial health on that basis?<br />4. Home state of the soldier / State in which the immediate family members of the soldier reside - Can be linked to specific situation in the state.<br />5. Time between suicide and last visit to family - further any linkages to phone calls made just before suicide. - that can be the trigger while the overall frustration must have been building up since long.<br /><br />I hv tried to jot down whatever came to my mind..but would really like to know whether this can lead to better analysis of such unfortunate incidents.<br /><br />TrushantTrushanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17033966932894576220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4017910838017424020.post-78167292383332750872012-08-11T19:28:06.740+05:302012-08-11T19:28:06.740+05:30Received immediate reaction on email from a friend...Received immediate reaction on email from a friend who knows Army intimately. Here it is: <br /><br />Dear Nitin<br /><br />Apropos your article.<br /><br />The major reason for suicides in army is the detachment of offrs and JCOs from the affairs of the men in a steep hierarchy. Firstly there is acute shortage of offrs at the bottom of the pyramid. Next the lowering of age of COs has resulted in fewer offrs available in the unit. The steep chart to promotion to Colonels has resulted in stiff competition at the junior levels where people are more interested in ensuring safety of their careers based on getting good ACRs. The combined result makes them risk averse sycophants who put career interests above organisational goals thus marginalising the leadership module - something the army prided itself in.<br /><br />The AVSC report has done great injustice by lowering age of COs thereby putting immature and career oriented offrs at the helm. This is accentuated by acute shortages in unit. Together the two have vitiated the leadership environment in the units - the cutting edge. There are many more mutinies waiting to happen as the leadership paradigms are heavily stacked in favour of careerism rather than genuine leadership. This will adversely affect the warfighting potential of the army - when needed.Nitin A. Gokhalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04632054380553596730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4017910838017424020.post-77910075698500265342012-08-11T19:21:37.274+05:302012-08-11T19:21:37.274+05:30I do not agree. Career offrs have always been ther...I do not agree. Career offrs have always been there.ACR consciousness existed before also.So what has changed. Status n respect in society. Degradation of pay, pension.Deaf adminis.Apathy towards men on leave to resolve their probs.Insensitive bureaucracy. These have weakened his tenacity and need immediate resolution.harmedforceshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10127940471378776088noreply@blogger.com