The Madras High Court on Thursday expressed concern over the increasing number of suicides committed by policemen.
It wanted to know from the State government as to when it would implement a suggestion made by the court in 2012 to constitute a committee headed by a retired High court judge to identify the reasons for the problem and recommend solutions. Justice N. Kirubakaran directed Additional Public Prosecutor A. Prabhakaran to obtain instructions from the State government by March 19 on not only the constitution of the committee but also other directions issued by the court six years ago. Stating that the prime reason for the suicides appeared to be the stress caused by irregular working hours and policemen’s inability to spend time with their families, the judge said the government must understand that they too were human beings who required a break from work regularly.
A paradox
The judge recalled that in his 2012 order, he had pointed out that not only suicides but also complaints of desertion were due to stress. “On the one hand, thousands of unemployed youngsters are wanting to join government service, and on the other those in service are killing themselves. It is a serious issue,” he said.
He said that it was imperative to constitute a committee comprising sociologists, psychologists, behavioural experts, health experts, human resource development professionals, advocates with experience in service law and police officers who had had considerable number of experience in personnel management to analyse the problems faced by the police force threadbare and come up with suitable recommendations to boost the morale of the force.
Mr. Justice Kirubakaran also pointed out that in his earlier order he made the suggestion “only to see that the problems of the police were highlighted.”
