May the force be well

1,347 police personnel died in 1,460 days due to various reasons, prompting strategies to improve mental and physical health.

A total of 1,347 police personnel died due to various reasons in 1,460 days ending December 31, 2023. The data sourced from media reports and police sources show that a majority of the deaths were caused by chronic health conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and cancer. While sensitising the force to the importance of a more healthy lifestyle to prevent or minimise the ill-effects of co-morbidities, senior officials of the Tamil Nadu Police are chalking out strategies to curb deaths by suicide and in road accidents.

The data show that a maximum of 414 police personnel died in 2021 (calendar year), and 132 of them passed away owing to ill health, 81 because of COVID-19 complications, 60 in road accidents, 59 owing to heart attacks, and 23 of cancer. The number of deaths reported in 2020, 2022, and 2023 were 337, 283, and 313 respectively. An average of three to four deaths by suicide were reported every month in the last three years, police sources say. Besides health issues that mainly account for the untimely deaths, senior officers are concerned about young policemen ending their lives for reasons such as loss of money in online gaming, debts, work pressure, and relationship problems. Despite the availability of grievance redress mechanisms, some are not opting for counselling or any other kind of assistance.

A cross-section of personnel says the workload is increasing by the day because of manpower shortage. Untimely meals and lack of sleep have become the norm for personnel involved in top-priority work, including security for elections, VVIP visits, public gatherings, and temple festivals. With 25%-30% of the sanctioned strength remaining vacant at police stations, a sizeable number of the staff will be deployed on what they call “other duties”. “The increased workload due to vacancies gets aggravated with the existing manpower being deployed for other official and unofficial duties. A large number of policemen are put on night duty at least thrice a week. Many consume alcohol or sedatives to sleep, and it becomes a habit...,” a special sub-inspector says.

Senior psychiatrist C. Ramasubramanian runs the NGO, M.S. Chellamuthu Trust, in Madurai. He has worked with the police to look at mental health issues in the force. He says the Police Well-being Programme was launched on the premise that there can be no health without mental health. So far, 90,000 police personnel have been trained in stress management. The MAGILCHI (happiness) initiative is aimed at identifying and treating those suffering from addiction to alcohol or drugs; family problems; frequent absenteeism or not reporting to duty on time; frequent quarrels with co-workers; anger issues and inappropriate behaviour with members of the public; depression, anxiety, and suspiciousness; and stress-related problems.

The Well-being Programme addresses the mental health needs of not only the personnel but also those of their families. “This is an innovative and first-of-its-kind programme in the country. We have to protect the protectors,” he adds. According to C. Jayakumar, Additional Professor, NIMHANS, and Principal Investigator of the Tamil Nadu Police Well-being Programme, some of the common issues identified among the personnel during an assessment were being tense and worried; nursing a feeling of being unable to play a useful part in life; sleep deprivation; and difficulty in enjoying daily activities.

Some personnel reported that personal, familial, financial and social stress levels were high, and this may be a major factor for their deteriorating health, resulting in decreased performance, a high number of days of sick leave, inability to complete tasks, substance use, and other issues, he says. The participants also reported that they were upset at the way things were going at work, feeling moody, restless, depressed, or discouraged and worked harder. “A significant number of personnel were found to have work stress and may require further attention. These revelations necessitate further screening to plan and design appropriate psychosocial support and mental health services,” Dr. Jayakumar adds.

The 2003 batch of constables is one of the biggest groups of recruits, with more than 8,000 members. Having joined the force as Grade II constables, they are all in the rank of head constable now. With an average age of 45 years, this batch has seen many deaths in the recent years; several collapsed suddenly due to COVID-19 and heart attacks and several others committed suicide and died of cancer. Some members of this batch hit upon a unique idea to help the family of their batchmates who died. They started a social media group and named it Udhavum Karangal (Helping Hands). Members started contributing ₹500 each every month towards a welfare fund. Whenever a batchmate died, the group administrators reached out to the family and donated ₹30 lakh. The money is invested on a fixed deposit in the name of the children of the deceased to further their education.The families of at least 40 members of the 2003 batch who died in recent years have benefited from the initiative. Many other batches of the personnel are trying to emulate the model.