Indian military faces new threat: Military Suicides!

Minister of State for Defense Ajay Bhatt reported; 819 military suicides in the last 5 years

As set for the preparations to celebrate the 23^rd anniversary of the Kargil Vijay Diwas mourning the loss of more than 500 soldiers, the country’s facing a severe loss on the military front as the number of soldier suicide increased rapidly.

In the last five years, there have been a total of 819 Military personnel suicides, including 642 suicides in the Army, 29 suicides in the Navy and 148 suicides in the Air Force, as the Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt reported in this week Rajya Sabha’s session. This massive loss of military personnel is something to weigh on our conscience as it is a grave loss for the country. This is heavily disturbing and would be even more concerning had the numbers of physical causalities been added to the figures. This is not only a huge tragic pain for the families of these personnel but also a tragic moral loss for the others in the military. This suicide trend in the military calls for an urgent and immediate surgical strike. 

Ajay Bhatt said, “For management of stress and suicides in services, the armed forces are continuously evolving measures to improve the stress mitigating mechanisms. An elaborate mental health programme has been formulated and is in vogue since 2009”. He added, “Personnel at high risk of stress are identified and counselled by unit commanding officers, regimental medical officers and junior leaders as per laid down procedures”. 

The traumatic suicide trend seen in the military had drawn the attention of the defence forces and the matter had been referred to the Defence Institute of Psychological Research (DIPR). The institute had earlier come up with many recommendations such as timely grant of leaves and enhanced allowances to be implemented to keep up the spirits and morale of the military squad. Consequently, some units have also established mental health helplines and medical support to ensure a positive mental health environment for the soldiers. The matter further calls for attention as despite these efforts the suicide numbers still seem to be rising.