Three paramilitary personnel have died every day last year and according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in its first-ever analysis of accidental deaths and suicides in Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), says that they have lost their lives battling the circumstances of their existence instead of the armed “enemy”.
At a daily average of three, the number is, in fact, above the daily average of two paramilitary personnel for every three militants killed due to Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) over the last three and a half decades.
The NCRB began collecting data on deaths in CAPFs with a view to formulate and implement preventive measures to keep casualties at bay with startling results — of the 1,232 paramilitary personnel who died in 2014, only 89 or a little above seven per cent, died in action.
According to the NCRB, more than half these deaths, at 632 which was over 51 per cent of the total deaths were categorised as “unnatural”, followed by 396 deaths or over 32 per cent deaths in road and rail accidents, 103 deaths or over 8 per cent due to natural calamities.
“This is a chilling reminder of the conditions that our men and women in uniform must contend with in the line of duty. There are many changes in training and coping mechanisms that we must provide them periodically instead of just once during training; much more needs to be done,” said a Home Ministry official.
According to data compiled by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) accessed by The Hindu , over 20,000 deaths occurred due to LWE between 1980 and March 30, 2015; as many as 12,146 civilians lost their lives to LWE-related violence across the country and during this period, 4,761 extremists and 3,105 security personnel were killed, which adds up to about two security personnel dying for every three extremists killed.
Meanwhile, the Bureau also found that 175 personnel had committed suicide during 2014 due to marriage-related issues (25.7 per cent), family problems (10.3 per cent), service issues (8.6 per cent) and depression (8.6 per cent), even as 49.1 per cent suicides, again, fell in the unspecified “other causes” category.
Half of the deaths of CAPF personnel due to accidental causes were reported from Telangana (111 of 194), Jammu and Kashmir (27 of 43), Arunachal Pradesh (7 of 24) and West Bengal (5 of 8). On the other hand, while Naxalism-affected States like Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand reported 31 and 19 deaths in combat, respectively, 30 paramilitary personnel died in action in Uttar Pradesh.
When it comes to suicide, Madhya Pradesh, which has been in the news for successive deaths related to the Vyapam scam, achieved the dubious distinction when it came to suicides by CAPF personnel (45.7 per cent), followed by Telangana accounting for 20 per cent and Jammu & Kashmir for 10.3 per cent suicides.
