Measures for Reducing Mental Stress in Soldiers

The Government is aware of the mental stress faced by the soldiers. The same is owing essentially to the operational challenges faced by them and certain issues in the domestic domain.

There is no ‘bhaiya’ system in Army. Army has a well institutionalized approved ‘buddy’ system, where officers and men are grouped into buddies to share their daily chores as also to ameliorate stress. There appears no loss of interest of soldiers in their jobs. The turnout at recruitment rallies and soldiers opting for two years extension of service are manifestation of continued interest of citizens and soldiers in the profession of Arms in the Army.

The Government has taken a number of steps to reduce the mental stress among the soldiers, which includes conduct of yoga and meditation as part of unit routine, psychological counseling by psychological counselors, liberalized leave policy, improvement in living and working conditions through provision of better infrastructure and facilities, improved accessibility of leaders and frequent interaction of leaders with the soldiers, provision for sports and recreational facilities, various training on stress management, provision of married accommodation.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Shri BK Hariprasad in Rajya Sabha today.