Date: 08/09/2022

Relevance: GS-2: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Human Resources.

Relevance: GS-3: Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate, challenges, work culture and their management.

Key Phrases: Mental health, mental health challenges in forces, Stress Management, Government initiatives to improve mental health, National Mental Health Program (NMHP)

Background:

• In recent times mental stress has emerged as a very serious problem among most people which is aggravated by the restrictive movement of people due to pandemic.
• Soldiers of armed and police forces are more prone to mental health issues because they suffer from severe mental stress on account of being away from home, family and living under constant anxiety in difficult conditions.
• Recently a Court of Inquiry’s findings about a case of fratricide at a Border Security Force (BSF) camp in Amritsar showed that the person who shot his colleagues had shown signs of mental stress but these signs were not given enough attention.

Causes of Mental health issues in uniformed forces

• Despite the huge prevalence of the stress affecting the mental well-being of uniformed personnel; it is downplayed and overlooked.
• The Command-and-control hierarchy system binds the personnel in a tightly structured system wherein a senior officer is the reporting authority and a junior has to fulfill hi/her tasks with manpower under his/her command.
• The hierarchy is rarely breached thus making it inhuman especially to those who cannot communicate their personal issues in an appropriate forum.
• The lack of awareness about mental health and stigma of being termed as weak prompts one to not reveal about mental health conditions.
  • Because he/she is seen as shying away from the rigours of life.
  • Uniformed personnel do not want to appear weak as they are stereotyped as “macho men”.

Why are mental health issues most prevalent in constabulary?

• The constabulary accounts for around 85 per cent of state police and CAPFs and these personnel perform their duties as directed by their seniors.
• They mostly remain in the background of the organization with less recognition for their achievements and more frequent persecution for failure which puts unwarranted stress on them.
• They receive a meager salary, poor working conditions which lack sufficient job satisfaction vis-a-vis the hardships they endure.
• They are not granted timely leaves, allowances and good housing which keep them away from their families and relatives and thus increase the level of dissatisfaction.
• A study by the Defense Institute of Psychological Research (DIPR) some years ago had also noted that the “perceived humiliation and harassment, and constant persecution” aggravates the situation leading them to resort to extraordinary measures.

Role of Higher leadership in mitigating mental stress among subordinates

• To cope with the difficulty of a highly rigid hierarchical setup, subordinate personnel often resort to alcoholism and drug abuse and such defaulters are punished as per the law and suitable departmental action is also taken.
  • In such cases the leadership should avoid “one size fits all” and try to find underlying issues.
  • The superiors should strive to create a working environment that provides personal fulfillment to personnel and reduces the chances of mental stress and illness.
• There should be increased communication with all the ranks by the senior officers to make them feel
• The enforcement of discipline has to go hand-in-hand with concern for staff well-being.
• Regular sampark sabhas need to be conducted where personnel can air their grievances and proper follow-up action must be taken on all possible issues.
• The senior’s office should be open to all ranks 24/7 it will create an environment of openness and subordinates

Way Forward

• Reward and recognition act as big motivators thus the subordinates should be motivated with recognition.
• The incentive system has to be formalized in every setup and should not work according to whims and fancies of the head of organizations.
• Sports and cultural programmes increase bonhomie and create bonds between personnel, who support each other during crises should be promoted.
• Friendly communication with personnel on duty during random inspections on the field does not hurt discipline rather only increases his/her trust in the leadership and dedication to duty.
• Dignity at the workplace and pride in the uniform compensate for any lack of resources which needs to be reinforced through various means.

Source: Indian Express

Mains Question:

Q. The increased risk of mental health issues post COVID-19 pandemic may pose greater administrative and operational challenges in the uniformed forces, elaborate. Also suggest measures to mitigate mental health challenges in the various uniformed forces. (250 words).