Mukesh Ranjan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 17

“Guns don’t kill” India’s paramilitary forces as much as their lifestyle related diseases. This has been revealed in a recent Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) data which says the country lost only 1,067 men in their combat role, where a little over three times (3,611) died due to various ailments including heart attack, the incidences of which were maximum.The new statistics put out by MHA on the seven paramilitary forces (CRPF, BSF, ITBP SSB, CISF, NSG and Assam Rifles) suggest together they lost 1,067 men in combat or counter-insurgency operations over a period of three years and two months beginning 2014. But more than three times (3,611) of that have died due to poor health and illnesses.Recognising this as a growing trend in the force, Director General (DG) BSF KK Sharma, during a recent interaction with media, said he had introduced “30-minute mandatory yoga” in the itinerary of the daily physical training (PT) programme for the entire force.With this alarming trend, sources in the MHA said the ministry had directed all forces under it to “review and reorganise” their medical directorate to ensure jawans get healthy diet and also provide proper counselling on lifestyle disorders.The latest data revealed that heart diseases were the leading cause of deaths in forces, followed by suicides.While BSF jawan Tej Bahadur complained of ill-cooked food and poor-quality ration in videos that created a flutter on social media this year, the findings of the medical directorate review painted a different picture. The consolidated study revealed that food containing high cholesterol and poor lifestyle was taking a toll on soldiers’ health, leading to high blood pressure, heart attack and diabetes.Sources said the ministry had asked the heads of the forces to ensure “samosas” and “jalebis” are replaced in the diet menu for jawans with citrus fruits and salads.