A 32-year-old Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) jawan on Saturday killed himself with his service weapon at the Surat International Airport. As per the police, CISF personnel Kisan Singh committed suicide in the washroom of the airport around 2:10 pm. NV Bharwad, inspector of Dumas police station said he shot himself in the stomach.
Reason unknown
Bharwad said that the personnel was taken to a private hospital where he was declared dead by the doctors. As of now, the reason behind this extreme step taken by the jawan is not immediately clear. The police is investigating the case.
CISF recorded the lowest number of suicides in 2024
Just a day before this tragic suicide, CISF on Thursday said it has recorded the lowest number of suicides amongst its personnel in 2024. In the previous year, as many as 15 CISF personnel died by suicide. As per official data, the force, which guards vital and sensitive installations in the aerospace, nuclear and government domain, saw 15 deaths last year due to suicide, which comes to 9.86 per lakh in an organisation that has an operational strength of over 1.51 lakh personnel. However, this is the lowest tally in over a six-year period.
The comparative data of deaths due to suicide in the force over the last five years stood at 25 (2023), 26 (2022), 21 (2021), 18 (2020) and 17 (2019).
Decline in suicide rate
CISF officials said some 'creditable' steps were taken to resolve the problems of its staffers. "The CISF has taken creditable steps in combating this challenge by implementing a series of proactive measures, which has led to substantial reduction in suicides of force members in 2024," said a CISF spokesperson.
In comparison, the CISF has significantly reduced its suicide rate to 9.87 per lakh in 2024, a decline of over 40 per cent from 2023, the official said.
Steps taken by CISF to address issues
The official said the CISF has taken a series of steps to address "mental health issues" on "proactive" basis, leading to a "substantial" reduction in suicides.
This includes personalised engagement by the officers with the troops on the theme of 'know your men and hear your men', stress management through yoga and games, online grievance redressal, tele-counselling on mental health issues for 4,200 personnel till last year and taking action on mental health issues as recommended by the AIIMS.
The new transfer and posting policy launched recently is also a step in ensuring better work-life balance for its non-gazetted rank officials, who constitute almost 98 per cent of its strength.
"CISF is committed to extend full support to its force members in ensuring their well-being and mental health," the spokesperson said.
(With agency inputs)
