At least 50,155 personnel from the country’s six paramilitary forces have quit their jobs in the last five years, according to a report of the 242nd demands for Grant report of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) tabled in the Rajya Sabha on March 17.
A parliamentary committee, which sought the details from MHA, in its report said that such a level of attrition may affect the working conditions in the forces, so urgent measures have to be taken to improve the working conditions significantly and motivate the personnel to stay in the force.
According to the contents of the report, the data submitted by the ministry of home affairs showed attrition rates rose significantly in the case of the Assam Rifles and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), it remained similar in case of the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) while there was a reduction in case of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) during 2022, over the previous year’s figures.
Between 2018 and 2023, of the 50,155 personnel who quit the force, the highest was in the BSF (23,553), followed by CRPF (13,640) and CISF (5,876).
Suggesting ways to reduce the attrition in the force, the committee recommended that surveys be conducted to understand why personnel were quitting their jobs. “The ministry should conduct exit interviews or surveys 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 force can be curbed,” it said.
While over 50,000 quit their jobs, the central armed paramilitary forces also reported 654 suicides between 2018 and 2022. Most cases of suicide were reported in CRPF (230 deaths) followed by BSF (174 deaths). The Assam Rifles had 43 deaths — the lowest among all the six forces.
To be sure – CRPF and BSF are also the largest and the second largest among the forces. While CRPF has around 324,654 and BSF around 265,277 personnel, Assam Rifles has 66,414 personnel.
Senior CRPF officials said that most suicide in the force are reported from Chhattisgarh where the force is posted to deal against Maoists. There were two suicides reported last month. Around 39,000 CRPF personnel work in conjunction with the state police in Chhattisgarh to keep a lid on the Maoist conflict.
The MHA has in a reply to a question in Parliament last week said that a task force has also been set up to identify the risk factors as well as the risk groups. “The task force will also suggest remedial steps to prevent suicides and fratricides. The report of the task force is being prepared,” minister of state (MoS) for home, Nityanand Rai said on March 15.
Suggesting remedial steps to prevent suicides and attrition, the parliamentary committee said that the forces “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 paramilitary forces of the country are involved in guarding the country’s frontiers, stopping smuggling, law and order situation, fighting left wing extremism violence, and in counter terror operations.
