In a shocking revelation about the health of the CRPF personnel, over nine per cent of the total strength of the world’s largest paramilitary force is sick and placed under low medical category (LMC).
Out of a total strength of 2,43,000 men in CRPF under the command of Force’s chief Director General RR Bhatnagar, as many as 22, 120 personnel are placed in the low medical category, according to official data.
Of the 22,120 LMC cases, 85 per cent of the figure constitutes pure medical cases implying diseases such as hypertension, obesity and diabetes. The remaining 15 per cent are mostly accident/incident related LMC cases.
Bhatnagar is reportedly opposed to enhancing the retirement age from 57 years to 60 years and has advocated a status quo in the superannuation of the personnel up to the rank of Commandant, said a senior official of the Intelligence wing of the CRPF posted in the paramilitary directorate here.
“Putting a spanner in enhancing the retirement age will only breed resentment among the various ranks of the force who are already stressed due to continuous deployment in hard areas,” the official said.
The paramilitary has cited LMC cases as a reason not to enhance the retirement age from 57 to 60 years. While BSF has an LMC of 5.5 per cent, the ITBP has 6 per cent sick personnel, the Intelligence official said quoting from the minutes of the meeting held at the Home Ministry for enhancing the retirement age.
The Home Ministry is holding consultations with the paramilitary leadership to enhance the retirement age from 57 to 60 years following a directive from the Delhi High Court that had in an order issued on January 31 this year to make the retirement age uniform for all the ranks to 60 years. Two rounds of meetings have been held at the North Block in this connection under the chairmanship of Additional Secretary (Police) in the Home Ministry Praveen Kumar Srivastava.
At present, the retirement age is 57 years from the rank of Constable up to the rank of Commandant.
However, if an officer is promoted to the rank of Deputy Inspector General, he or she is eligible to retire at the age of 60 years.
During the meeting held by Srivastava, Additional Director General (Personnel) of CRPF Atul Karwal said the number of LMC personnel will increase significantly if the retirement age is increased to 60 years as 2-3 per cent LMC cases increase in proportion with the increase in age of the personnel.
Karwal also said that if the retirement age is enhanced, it will directly impact the recruitment process for next three years and subsequently increase the age profile of the force with reduced component of youth in the force.
As many as 180 battalions (1,80,000 personnel) out of 243 battalions are deployed in various roles without any peace time deployment.
A Subedar Major rank official in the media branch of the Force’s headquarters said a mechanism should be put in place wherein the health check up of top rung officials should be conducted by a panel of doctors independent of the CRPF medical wing.
A study conducted by the IIM, Ahmedabad on “Emotional Intelligence and Occupational Stress in BSF and CRPF” in 2012 had underscored that these paramilitary forces are overburdened with work, a reason that is causing dissatisfaction in the ranks. The report submitted to the Home Ministry had also noted high levels of salary discrepancy, difficulty due to unpaid medical claims and lack of career progression for the jawans. For the officers, the report noted that they face lack of identity, continuous posting in hard areas, lack of authority and training opportunities leading them to de-motivation and burnout creating different psychological complications. The study was instituted after alarming levels of attrition in the paramilitary forces was reported. However, the report was junked and no remedial measures undertaken. Parliamentary panels have also flagged concerns over harsh working condition and low levels of professional satisfaction.
The representatives of the ITBP, SSB and BSF have backed the idea to enhance the superannuation age to 60 years. The Assam Rifles and the CISF, which have retirement age of 60 years, have sought continuation of the practice.