CISF tweaks HR policy in bid to prevent suicides

Alarmed by a spate of suicides over the past five years, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has tweaked its human resource (HR) policy to relieve the cumulative stress among its personnel.

Besides alterations in the HR policy, the CISF has taken multiple measures to deal with the challenge. These include permitting “choice-based” postings for married couples within the forces. Previously, couples were not allowed the flexibility of posting at the same location.

105 personnel ended life in 5 years

As many as 105 CISF personnel have died by suicide in the past five years. Across Central Armed Police Forces, National Security Guards and Assam Rifles, more than 700 personnel ended their life during the same period.

As part of the changes effected by the CISF to reduce stress among the personnel, the commanding officers have been instructed to regularly visit duty posts to foster direct communication. Yoga classes for stress management, an hour of daily games between jawans and officers and a 24x7 tele-counselling-based grievance redressal system called “Project Mann” have also been introduced on the back of disturbing findings related to the mental health of the forces.

A senior CISF officer said a comprehensive mental health study was conducted in collaboration with AIIMS, New Delhi, and actionable recommendations are now being implemented at unit level.

As per the study, poor emotional support, owing to nuclear families, marital disagreements, affairs and solitude were listed among common reasons, due to which the personnel were taking the extreme step. The officer said an online grievance redressal system has been implemented that allows timely monitoring of grievances at all levels. “Till Sept 2024, around 4,200 CISF personnel have received help under Project Mann,” he said.

A recent study by the CISF revealed 2/3rd of all the personnel grievances were related to posting matters which affected their personal life.