The Silent Enemy Within Our Ranks: Combating Military Suicides in India

Suicide, understood as the act of harming oneself, is a growing psycho-social concern in the public health domain. Those in the army are the least discussed and talked about.

The ‘men at war’ face various adversities that impact their emotional and mental stress. Stress has become the Indian Army’s new enemy and has been taking a silent toll. Complex (and multiple) reasons for these suicides need to be understood and it is not possible to compartmentalise these into any set pattern or series of causes.

The causes of suicidal tendencies range from the severity of organic brain damage to exposure to war trauma, death and a diminished personal life. Those who have suffered from brain injuries during engagement with the enemy or insurgents may end up with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and possibly deal with severe depression.

They are also likely to have highly intrusive thoughts and guilt about acts committed during times of war. These thoughts can often overpower coping capacities. Death of a close friend during times of war is known to have led to depression as well.

Repeated postings to high altitude bases like those in Jammu and Kashmir and the North-east also take a toll on a person’s physical endurance and mental health. Dealing with persistent feelings of isolation, loneliness and possible sickness coupled with the near impossibility of air evacuation due to poor weather conditions proves to be difficult to cope with.

Break-up of joint family systems has left separated families to fend for themselves.

Problems of living alone, raising children and educating them add to any soldier’s anxieties.

Indian army soldiers are haunted by the prospect of retirement at an early age of 35 to 37 years, increasing family commitments and the consequent financial problems thereafter. This is also compounded by poor salaries, lack of basic amenities, denial of leave and ineffectual official leadership.

By and large then, a soldier’s life in the Indian army has its fair share of anxiety and stress and is often depressing.

Statistically speaking, 348 armed force personnel have committed suicide since 2014, with the highest proportion falling in the army with 276 suicides.

The numbers have increased from 2014 to 2016, accounting for 104 deaths in the army (in 2016). Death tolls in the army remain much higher than those reported in the Navy or Air Force.

The Minister of State for Defence, Subhash Bhamre, said the Defence Institute of Psychological Research conducted various studies on suicides and fratricides and their findings highlighted the need for the introduction of stress-busting measures in the forces.

In response to these growing figures, the government has taken a number of measures including training officers to provide psychological counselling, ensuring improvement in living and working conditions for the personnel, superior quality of clothing and food, recreational activities and establishment of grievance redressal mechanisms.

It is necessary to ensure the presence of a powerful support system for service members. Commanding officers, colleagues, friends, and families of members have an important role to play. They must watch out for warning signs that hint at suicidal thought patterns, such as talking about killing oneself, giving away personal possessions or hopelessness.

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An understanding of the gravity of mental illness and maintenance of mental health is essential.

Source: Facebook.

Awareness needs to be spread about how important the maintenance of mental health is- just as paramount as that of physical health.

A better flow of interaction between seniors and their subordinates can immensely decrease stress levels with a realistic redressal of grievances.

Electronic forums introduced by the Indian Air Force and the Army’s Western Command are good examples of encouraging such communication. Professional Counsellors at Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) levels need to be inducted in all uniformed services and embedded in operational units or formations. Apart from psychiatrists, there should be a focus on employing counsellors and clinical psychologists, well equipped with handling mental health concerns.

It has also been noticed that the majority of suicides occur when soldiers return from leave and hence professionals should be trained to identify and address problems among such members of the armed forces specifically.

The army has introduced several soft measures like yoga lessons and a liberal leave policy to reduce instances of suicides and fratricides. The army recently began distributing field manuals on suicides and fratricides for use by officers in the north and North-east.

The pocket-sized booklets, in English for officers and Hindi for soldiers, inform about stress symptoms and ways to prevent outbreaks of violence.

Source: Facebook.

Although in-depth research is currently underway to recognise risk factors that lead to suicides in the army, it is imperative that there is a need to create an amicable environment for soldiers.

Suicide rates can be reduced and prevention can amplify with collective efforts and understanding. The society as a whole must be an advocate for suicide prevention.

Members of the Armed Forces are not only protectors of our borders, but of all the civilians who live within these borders. Their protection is also our duty.

“But What Does He Learn at School?” The Parent of an Autistic Child Answers

A few months ago my eleven-year-old son Kausatv had to have five of his teeth extracted under general anaesthesia. Of the five teeth, four were milk teeth and one was permanent. It meant a one-night stay in the hospital. The evening we got him admitted, a nurse came in to conduct a routine check-up.

The doctors looking after my son knew knew that he was autistic. But the rest of the staff only knew that he was a child with “special needs”. But how special? They didn’t know.

The nurse, seeing a young boy, proceeded to be friendly by playfully teasing him.

“So you‘ve been eating too many chocolates have you?”, the nurse asked.

Hearing the word ‘chocolate’, Kaustav looked at me and I could see the question in his eyes. Was he going to get some? I quickly told him that there were no chocolates here.

So Kaustav reminded himself by repeating “Eating too many chocolates will give…” and waited for me to finish the sentence. So I said “…will give…” and he added, “A toothache”.

From this little exchange the nurse figured out that something was different here.

I told her my son had autism. The nurse asked, “So what is his problem?” I started to explain while she told Kaustav that he had to change his clothes. Kaustav stood up and started to take off his tee-shirt.

She looked at me and asked, “What school does he go to?” I explained that he goes to a special school.

“And what class is he in?”, she asked while she held out the pyjama top that he had to wear. I explained that there were no ‘classes’, and that the children get a communication-based education specific to their needs. In the meantime, Kaustav had slipped his arms into the sleeves while she buttoned him up.

She then handed him the pyjama bottoms and told him, “Go to the bathroom, take your shorts off and put these pyjamas on”.

Before he left I reminded Kaustav “After you have taken off the shorts, bring them back here.” So Kaustav trotted off to the bathroom.

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“Yes but if there are no classes what do they learn? Do they have exams?”, she asked. I wondered how to explain to her what we teach and how we teach it.

Source: Action For Autism, National Centre For Autism

I was mumbling my way through the explanation when Kaustav walked back with the shorts in his hand. “Good, Kaustav” I said, “You remembered the shorts.”

The nurse told Kaustav to lie on the bed, which he did. She said, “Put your arm out,” which he also followed through with. She then went on to take his blood pressure.

“So no classes?” she asked.

“No….”

I went on to mumble some more about what happens when teaching a person with autism.

She then told him to open his mouth and popped in a thermometer to take his temperature. She examined him with a stethoscope and strung along all instructions that go with it – “Sit up,” “Breathe deeply”, “Breathe out”.

Kaustav followed them all.

“Yes, but what do they learn?” She asked, while finally packing up all her stuff. “I don’t see what the problem is. He understood everything I told him”.

“That’s precisely what he is learning at his school,” I said, “He is learning to understand.”

Just to conclude, there are two points to keep in mind:

1. The whole visit went off very well. He went to the operation theatre alone and reports from the doctors were that he coped better than most of their other patients.
2. Kaustav did not understand everything. He understood all the direct instructions given. But he did not understand the very first thing she had said, “So eating too many chocolates, have you?”

(The author, Indrani Basu, is the Founder & Director of Autism Society West Bengal, ASWB and the mother of a young individual with autism. This current work was first published in the December 2006 issue of the Autism Network Journal.)

You can help Action For Autism reach out and provide services to people with Autism and their families by contributing online.

Been Served a Notice by the Income Tax Department? Here’s How You Can Respond

An income tax notice in one’s name can make anyone anxious.

It must be noted that all tax notices are not meant to petrify you. Every notice has a reason for issuance: some income tax notices are issued merely to give intimation under Section 143(1) and some warrant information for inquiry under Section 142(1).

Instead of panicking, it is important to draft a proper reply and respond in time to the income tax department. It is pertinent to understand the type and nature of tax notice in order to be able send a fitting reply.

Following are some of the most important tax notices you should know about-

Notice of Demand: Notice under Section 156 

This is issued by the tax department stating that you need to either pay the penalty or fine or any other amount that is due.

What you should do: You must make the payment of the requisite amount within 30 days. In case you fail to make the payment then you will be liable to pay simple interest @1% for every month under section 156 of the Act.

Defective Income Tax Return: Notice under Section 139(9)

If you get a notice under this section, you need not worry because this implies that there is some defect in the return that you have filed. A tax notice is termed defective when it is not filed with all the necessary documents or information as required under the law.

For example, if you have not filed your return in the correct format or have left a mandatory field empty or have not attached a statement of your computation. Under this scenario, the assessing officer suggests ways to rectify the return.

What you should do: Reply to this notice within 15 days from the date of receiving. You can also file the response to this notice online.

For doing that, visit here and login with your user ID, password and date of birth or date of incorporation. Then go to the e-file and click on e-file in response to notice u/s 139(9).

You can also seek an extension by writing to your local assessing officer, if you fail to revise your income tax return within 15 days.   

Consequences of not filing a tax return within the specified period: In case the assessee fails to rectify the return within stipulated time then the return will be deemed as invalid. This implies that the tax department treats it as the assessee not having filed the return at all.

Income is concealed or likely to be concealed: Notice under Section 131(1A) 

In case the Assessing Officer is of the opinion that the assessee has not disclosed his or her income accurately or is hiding true income, then the AO may issue a notice under this section. A notice under this section implies that the AO is intending to initiate an inquiry or investigate the matter to determine the true income of the assessee.

What you should do: There is no specified time within which the assessee is bound to reply to the notice under this section. You must keep all your account books, statement of accounts in place. The assessing officer can impound the books or other documents by providing the reason for the same.

Preliminary inquiry before assessment: Notice under Section 142(1)

A notice is given under this section if the department wants to make preliminary investigation and needs to inquire about a certain case before starting an assessment. The authorities may call upon all documents and details from the taxpayers concerning the particular case under assessment. You may get this notice if you have not filed your return in due time. The entire purpose of notices under this section is to inquire about the details of the assessee before making any assessment under the Act.   

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What you should do: The assessee must provide all documents and details asked for under this section. You must submit these documents even if you feel that they are irrelevant. You must comply with this notice. If you have got a notice under this section but have not filed your return then you are required to file the income tax return within the time given in the notice and a proof of the same should be submitted along with the documents. 

Follow up of the notice issued under Section 142(1): Notice under Section 143 (2)

This is a follow up to the notice issued under section 142(1). This implies that either the AO has not received your documents or is not satisfied with your response. Now your return can be subjected to detailed scrutiny. Through this notice, the assessing officer may insist upon additional documents in support of deductions, exemptions, reliefs, allowance etc.

What you should do: Again, compliance to this notice is mandatory and the assessee must submit all the relevant documents to the department at the earliest. If the assessee fails to comply with this notice then the assessing officer can take their own decision based on best judgment assessment (under Section 144). The assessee can be penalised or prosecuted which may extend up to one year with fine or without fine.

Letter of intimation: Notice under Section 143 (1) 

A notice under this section is intended at informing the assessee that if he/she has paid the accurate amount of tax, or less tax than is their liability or more than is the required sum. Typically a person can get three types of notices under this section-

1. Intimation letter- It only implies that post the final assessment done by the tax authorities, your return calculation matches with the assessing officer’s computation.
2. Refund letter- This is, in fact, good news and implies that the by the calculation done by the assessing officer, you are liable to get a refund.  
3. Demand letter- This implies that as per the calculation of the assessing officer there is a shortfall in the amount of tax you have paid and hence you are required to pay the balance amount to the department.

What you should do: In the first instance where you get an intimation letter you only have to keep the notice for documentation for further reference. If it is a refund notice, then you don’t have to do anything, the department will initiate a refund to you. If the notice is of demand, then this notice becomes a notice of demand under section 156 and the assessee is required to complete the payment to the department within 30 days of receipt of intimation.

Income escaping assessment: Notice under Section 148

You get this notice if the assessing officer believes that some of your income has escaped assessment. Notice under this section serves as an intimation to initiate proceedings under Section 147.

What you should do: At the very first instance, you should file your return of income. Post that you can ask for the copy of reasons recorded by the assessing officer for issuing a notice under section 148. After receiving the details if the assessee feels the need, he/she can file objections to the issuance of notice.  

These are some of the common notices that can be received by an assessee. In case you receive any of the following notices it is advisable to consult a professional. Getting a tax notice is common these days so instead of panicking, handle the notice with care to avoid further issues.

Droughts Don’t Scare These Millet-Producing, Self-Sufficient Karnataka Farmers!

In 2012 one brave farmer decided to plant a field of traditional millet just like his ancestors would do many years before. That year the area was hit with a severe drought and even as many of his neighbours and friends saw their crops fail due water shortage, his millet crop gave a bumper yield. Seeing his success other farmers in the village became very interested to know more and to give the traditional varieties of millet a go themselves.

The next year many more farmers planted a number of different traditional varieties of millets and got equally good yields despite it being a year of drought again.

The villages of Hanumanahalli, Ramapura and Mattighatti are some 40 km from Hubbali, Karnataka. The area has been suffering from severe droughts for a number of years and by 2012 has already seen a number of farmer suicides.

In 2014 these villages joined the Karnataka State Government’s ‘Savayava Bhagya’ program. Under the scheme they targeted converting at least 100 hectares for pure organic cultivation.

Farmers were encouraged to try dedicating at least a percentage of their land to cultivating through organic methods.

They were given financial support as well as training in practical techniques such as how to make vermi-compost, how to make jiwamrita and how to make organic pesticides.

Alongside joining Savayava Bhagya, they received traditional seeds and support from Bangalore based NGO, Sahaja Samrudha. Sahaja Samrudha is a people’s movement to preserve India’s traditional farming practices and conserve the rich biodiversity of indigenous crop varieties. They have been working constantly to help support the farmers with technical expertise and provisions of traditional varieties of seeds.

Sahaja Samrudha helped the farmers form a group comprising of around 80 farmers called ‘Sanjivini Savayava Krushikara Balaga’. Initially, the farmers got lower yields when they first switched over to growing organically, but as their soil slowly healed and regenerated, they got better yields each and every.

Within a couple of years they were producing excellent yields, with one big difference- they were using almost zero external input which meant a dramatic reduction of costs.

“We were getting better yields with zero inputs and we started to notice the health of the village improve, people were falling sick less frequently and more serious lifestyle diseases started to become less common,” local farmer Sunil said.

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Growing millet is not a new idea, rather a revival of an old tradition- millets were grown in this area for countless generations before the ‘Green Revolution.’

Elders in the villages can still remember seeing millet growing in the fields in their childhood days. Millets are the perfect crop for this region and its current climatic conditions. They are low maintenance crops, with a good market demand, provide fodder for cattle and many other ecological benefits.

Many local farmers are shifting to millet cultivation instead of focusing on pesticide and water-intensive crops such as BT-cotton, soy and maize. It is a matter of common sense- cotton, soy and maize keep failing due to a lack of rain.

The Sanjivini Savayava Krushikara Balaga farmers group has been very successful in marketing their millet. Through forming the group they were able to collect large quantities to attract wholesale buyers.

Last year they successfully sold around 50 tonnes of the crop and this year the quantity is expected to cross 200 tonnes.

Sahaja Samrudha have worked closely alongside Sanjivini Savayava Krushikara Balaga to create a long-term sustainable seed bank for the farmers. To receive the seeds they have to follow a few basic conditions that help ensure the sustainability of the seed bank:

1) After the harvest is complete, the farmer must return twice the quantity he has taken from the seed bank.

2) Using only organic techniques.

3) Seeds returned must be of good quality.

The villagers are now all self-sufficient in their seed needs and selling the excess seeds back to Sahaja Samrudha. 

The local millet movement continues to go from strength to strength and the more people hear about their story the more demand there is from farmers in Karnataka and beyond for traditional millet seeds.

Stopped by the Traffic Police? Here are Your Rights and Things You Should Know

If you are a two-wheeler or four-wheeler driver in India, then at least once in your life, you will be stopped by the traffic police.

There is nothing much to worry if you are stopped by traffic police, but there are some rights that as a commuter you should know:

1. Traffic police are required to carry a challan book or e-challan machine in order to penalise you. Without having any of these, the police cannot penalise you.

2. If you are stopped by a traffic police, usually the first thing is that you must stop your vehicle and produce documents required by the officer. Remember you are only required to show the driving license to the police. It is completely your choice if you want to hand over the documents or not. Section 130 of the Motor Vehicle Act categorically states that the driver of a motor vehicle in any public place shall on demand by any police officer in uniform produce his license for examination. As you can see the law only says, “produce” and not hand over.

3. You must avoid an argument with the police and cooperate. In case if you have made any mistake, just explain it to the police and they might even let you go.

4. You can be penalised for jumping a red light, improper and obstructive parking, driving without helmet, overspeeding, smoking in the vehicle, not displaying number plate, driving without a license, a vehicle without registration, valid insurance or valid pollution under control certificate are all offences under Motor Vehicles Act.

5. Never succumb to illegal demands of the police. Do not attempt to bribe the traffic police. Note down the buckle number and his name. In case if he is not wearing his buckle, ask him for his identity card. If he refuses to give you his identity card you can refuse to give him documents.

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6. If the police officer is an officer of rank sub-inspector or above then you can settle the offence by paying the fine.

7. In case if you are driving without license or permit, police may detain your vehicle. Police may also detain your vehicle if it is not registered.

8. Without a valid receipt, traffic police cannot take away your driving license. Your driving license can be seized if you jump the red light, overloading, drunken driving and using the mobile phone while driving.

9. Traffic police cannot tow your car as long as you are sitting in it. You have to vacate your vehicle before they can tow your car.

10. If you are detained by traffic police for the offence then you must be produced before the magistrate within 24 hours, for the trial.

11. If traffic police harass you then you can file a complaint with the police, stating the particulars of the entire incident.

In case if a prosecution slip or challan is issued to you, ensure it contains the following details-

• Name and address of the court where the offence will be trialled
• Details of the offence committed
• Date of trial
• Vehicle details
• Name and address of the offender
• Name and signature of the challaning officer
• Details of the documents retained