Suicides in Paramilitary forces

CRPF and BSF top the list of personnel committing suicides with latest records showing that 370 such incidents took place in paramilitary forces since 2012.

In the first two months of this year alone, 14 cases have been recorded in which two were cases of women.

Officials in the paramilitary forces attribute most of the suicides to family problems while saying that stress-related cases were very less. None of the senior officers committed suicide during this period.

As per the latest Home Ministry figures, 2012 witnessed 121 suicides while it decreased marginally to 115 the next year. Last year, it again increased to 120. Among the 370 cases, 22 are women.

CRPF has the highest number of 131 cases closely followed by BSF, which had 124 cases during these years. CISF had 49 cases, ITBP 21, SSB 22 and Assam Rifles had 23 cases.

A senior paramilitary official said there is no need to panic, as the numbers are not that high.

“There is a perception that work-related stress is leading to increased number of suicides in the paramilitary forces. That is not correct. Suicides are prevalent in society and it is in force,” the official said.

With capabilities increasing, he said, the work related issues are becoming easier. A study, he said, has noted that family issue is the main contributor to suicides in forces.

Answering a question in Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju had said that the causative factors in “most cases” were found to be “generally personal and domestic problems” like marital discords, personal enmity, mental illness and depression. However, he admitted, “in few cases, the same could be owing to work related stress”.

Stressing the point, the official said many a times the families do not want to leave their villages with the personnel and they do not have the support system.

“Stress builds up when the personnel could not reach out to his families, when they are in need. This issue has to be addressed and we are working on housing proposals,” the official said.

SUICIDES IN PARAMILITARY FORCES

Force	Male	Female	Total*
CRPF	128	3	131
BSF	124	0	124
CISF	31	18	49
ITBP	20	1	21
SSB	22	0	22
Assam Rifles	23	0	23
TOTAL*	348	22	370

* Figures since 2012

SOURCE: Ministry of Home Affairs

(An edited version appeared in Deccan Herald on Mar 16, 2015)

U-turn by Home Ministry on activist case

Jan 13, 2015: After a blame-game, the Union Home Ministry on Tuesday did a u-turn on the offloading of London-bound GreenPeace activist Priya Pillai and supported the Intelligence Bureau (IB) action of issuing a Look Out Circular (LOC) against her.

Sources cited “national security considerations” and purchase of Pillai’s ticket by the UK-arm of Greenpeace as the reasons for the issuance of LOC by the IB, which was initially contested by the Union Home Ministry saying the agency has no authority to issue such circulars.

Pillai, a senior campaigner with GreenPeace India, was to interact with British MPs on January 14 on “violations of human rights and environmental norms by Essar in Mahan coal mine areas”.

On Monday, top officials of the Home Ministry questioned the need for issuing an LOC against Pillai and IB’s authority in doing so. Though the incident took place on Sunday, Home Secretary Anil Goswami on Monday claimed that he did not have details about the incident and will be seeking a report.

Reversing its stand on Tuesday, sources said as per guidelines issued by the Home Ministry in 2010, an officer in the rank of Assistant Director in the IB is authorised to issue LOC for any individual based on inputs received against the person.

Interestingly, the whole of Monday, the Ministry was not clarifying whether the IB had the authority to issue an LOC.

Sources said LOC was issued on January 9, two days prior to her scheduled departure. One of the reasons cited was UK chapter of GreenPeace paying for Pillai’s ticket, which the authorities claimed violated the rules of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).

Greenpeace India has to seek permission from RBI before receiving any foreign contribution following an order of the Home Ministry last year freezing the NGO’s funds over its campaign against corporates engaged in coal mining. Greenpeace India challenged the order in the Delhi High Court and the next hearing is on January 20.

Purchase of air ticket by the Greenpeace UK for someone working for its India chapter is amounting to receiving funds from abroad, sources said, adding no permission had been sought from the RBI in this case.

Asked about the ticket issue, Pillai told Deccan Herald the authorities are passing the buck. “They are raising trivial issues and coming up with several reasons two days after the incident. Tell us the real reasons,” she said.

Questions have also been raised in activist circles about authorities citing “national security considerations” to restrict some one’s movement.

(An edited version appeared in Deccan Herald on Jan 14, 2015)

ALSO READ: Mystery over offloading of activist

Mystery over offloading of activist

Mystery over offloading of activist

Jan 12, 2015: Mystery deepened over the offloading of GreenPeace activist Priya Pillai while she was to board a flight to London with Union Home Ministry on Tuesday saying that it did not authorise the issuance of Look Out Notice (LOC) against her.

Sources in Home Ministry said the LOC was issued by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) without any authorisation. Only investigating agencies like CBI and Police have the powers to issue LOC and if IB had to get an LOC, it had to go through the Ministry.

The Joint Secretary in charge of Foreigners Division, which clears such requests, has not given any authorisation for issuing an LOC against Pillai, they said. The Home Ministry officials are “puzzled” over IB’s move.

“I have no idea. Let me get a report. I shall seek a report,” Home Secretary Anil Goswami official said. When asked about GreenPeace’s allegation that government was trying to muzzle dissent, he said GreenPeace keep making allegations against the government and “this is one more allegation”. “What change it makes?” he added.

Questions have been raised over the move to offload her while she was board an Air India flight to London as it curtailed her right to free movement. According to Pillai, she was not given a reason for the Immigration officials’ action.

The Home Ministry officials also said that they are not aware under which rule the activist was offloaded and the cases against her. An LOC is issued is against absconders, those who have red corner notices issued against them and suspects.

“I am not absconding and I have no criminal convictions. Am I being banned from travel due to my political beliefs- is that democratic?” Pillai tweeted.

Syed Akbaruddin, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson, told reporters that the MEA has no role in immigration of Indian residents going out and coming in.

Pillai also shot off a letter to Home Secretary Anil Goswami seeking a “definitive answer” on the reason why an LOC was issued against her.

“If a Look Out Notice does exist in my name, please provide me with details of this circular along with information on the issuing authority and the reasons for it,” she said.

She also said that she was flying to London to give speech to MPs and she was not subject to bail conditions that would prevent her from travelling abroad. “Therefore if I am on a look out circular, it is because of my political beliefs. That would be fundamentally undemocratic,” she said.

Another official said the NGO could take the government to court over the matter. He reminded the court verdict in a case filed by Maneka Gandhi, now a Union Minister, in 1977 after her passport was impounded when she planned to go abroad for a professional engagement. The verdict went against the government as the apex court upheld the right to personal liberty.

(An edited version appeared in Deccan Herald on Jan 13, 2015)

ALSO READ: U-turn by Home Ministry on activist case

U-turn by Home Ministry on activist case

Sec377: Arrests and Cases

At least 750 cases were registered and 600 arrested under Section 377 of Indian Penal Code in 2014 after Supreme Court struck down an earlier court verdict that decriminalised homosexuality.

According to Home Ministry statistics, the country witnessed registration of 778 cases and 587 arrests under Section 377 until October.

However, this number would rise, as some states, including Karnataka and West Bengal, have not submitted data to the central agencies while other states have not given data for all months.

While states like Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh submitted data until October, Delhi, which topped the list with 140 cases and 110 arrests, has submitted the figures until September.

Uttar Pradesh, which is in the second position with 127 cases and 36 arrests, has provided data for the first six months of the year.

Haryana and Maharashtra also have high number of cases with 99 and 98 respectively. Hundred people were arrested in Maharashtra while Haryana put 89 behind the bars under this provision.

Kerala with 69 cases and 64 arrests and Madhya Pradesh with 64 cases and 48 arrests are two other states, which had high numbers with regard to Section 377.

The practice of collecting the data related to Section 377 was started only this year. The National Crime Records Bureau has said that it has started collecting the data under the monthly crime statistics from January 2014 and does not have statistics for the previous years.

The Supreme Court had in December 2013 struck down a 2009 Delhi High Court order that decriminalised Section 377, giving much relief to the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender (LGBT) community.

Describing Section 377 as something that takes away their dignity, privacy and rights, the LGBT community has approached the apex court seeking annulling its order and decriminalise it again.

The LGBT community also appealed to the government to repeal the section from the IPC but Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary has recently told Parliament that the Centre has no “separate proposal to repeal or amend Section 377”.

State	Cases	Arrests
Delhi (till Sept)	140	110
Uttar Pradesh (till June)	127	36
Haryana (till Sept)	99	89
Maharashtra (till Sept)	98	100
Kerala (till Sept)	69	64
Madhya Pradesh (till July)	64	48
Total (for whole country)	778	587

SOURCE: Union Home Ministry

(An edited version appeared in Deccan Herald on Jan 2, 2015)

Detectives’ No-Go areas

Considering the “poor law abiding habits” of people, the Union Home Ministry wants to limit the ambit of private detective agencies (PDA) by disallowing them to take up investigations into cases like marital discord pending with police, theft and white-collar crimes.

The Union Home Ministry has identified 16 areas that should be forbidden for private detectives, as it wants to ensure that the privacy of individual is not infringed and that it does not venture into areas of Intelligence Bureau, R&AW and CBI.

They should only be allowed to work in the private sector “within the restricted areas of work” and should not investigate into bona fide activities of the State, a draft Home Ministry report on recommendations of a Parliamentary panel on Private Detective Agencies (Regulation) Bill, 2007.

Following the Parliamentary panel report, then Home Secretary G K Pillai had opined in 2009 that there are “no major problems or controversies” surrounding such agencies and one should avoid further legislation if possible as India is “already an over legislated” country.

The Bill was then put on hold for a year and it “continues to be on hold”, the report said adding that a Committee under the Border Management Secretary was formed later to go into the panel report.

Underlying the need for regulating detective agencies, which could be around 700 employing around 15,000 people, the report said the central intelligence agencies have reported that such organisations were “proliferating and their areas of operations expanding”. They were offering a variety of services while there is no State scrutiny, it said.

“Such unregulated activities of PDAs have a huge potential for misuse and manipulation considering the poor law abiding habits of people in several parts of the country. As the activities of PDAs are often confidential in nature, it is necessary to safeguard the interest of citizens who are desirous of availing services of PDAs,” the report noted.

While it can do asset investigation, pre-employment verification and market intelligence, the Ministry wants a bar on such agencies carrying out investigations into counterfeiting, environmental issues, financial investigation, forensic or handwriting analysis, intellectual property, court cases and missing persons.

These agencies should also be barred from carrying out undercover probe or investigations into cases, which are registered with police. However, they could conduct, pre-matrimonial background checking, security surveys and insurance fraud investigation.

The draft report also said that only Indian citizens should be allowed to become private detectives.

(An edited version appeared in Deccan Herald on Nov 7, 2014)

Now Aadhaar Card for prisoners

Prisoners could now get ‘Aadhaar’ card without any hassle with the Centre asking states to approach local Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) officials for conducting enrollment drives in jails.

The move comes against the backdrop of efforts to increase the enrollment rate of UIDAI.

In identical letters to Secretaries in states dealing with Home Department and Prisons and Directors General of jails, the Home Ministry said that it would be of “immense utility” to offer this service to them as a welfare measure when they are released from jails.

It said a number of inmates might have missed the enrollment process earlier and it would be of great help for them if such drives were conducted in jails. Tihar Jails in New Delhi has already started enrollment process and has received a “very good” response.

The Ministry reminded officials that the enrollment is “entirely voluntary” and there is “no compulsion” involved.

“Moreover, the data collected by the UIDAI is not meant for use by the correctional home and is only for the provision of a Aadhaar card to enable re-integration of the undertrial prisoner or convict on release,” it said.

The jail authorities are also asked to assist the prisoners with documentation needed for procuring the card.

The letter asked the authorities to educate prisoners about the benefits of having Aadhaar cards. It said the card would become the simplest way of proving one’s identity.

“Aadhaar can be used at multiple places to prove one’s identity very easily. A person’s Aadhaar number can be used while opening a bank account as it meets the ‘Know Your Customer norms, booking tickets online, applying for passport and at many other places where there is a need to give the proof of identity,” the letter noted.

According to UIDAI, around 69.04 crore Aadhaar cards were issued till now. Though the Home Ministry is encouraging prisoners to get Aadhaar cards, it has recently raised objections to a Department of Telecom proposal to use it as valid proof of address for mobile subscribers.

The Ministry felt that though ‘Aadhaar’ ensures unique identity, it is not a necessary condition to ensure authenticity of other entries or records of Aadhaar number.

(An edited version appeared in Deccan Herald on Oct 18, 2014)