| 1,018 army men committed suicide since 2003: Antony |
NEW DELHI The federal government on Wednesday said 1,018 army personnel have committed suicide so far since 2003 with the maximum number of such incidents taking place in 2006.
“Of the total 1,018 cases of army men committing suicide, the maximum 129 such incidents took place in 2006,” Defence Minister AK Antony told the Rajya Sabha.
This year till July, 62 cases of suicides were reported in the army, while last year it was 102, he said.
“As per studies conducted by Defence Institute of Psychological Research (DIPR), the major causes of suicides in army are domestic problems, marital discord, stress and financial problems,” Antony said.
He, however, declined that there is a sharp rise in suicides in the army.
In reply to a question on enhancing the combat capabilities of the armed forces, Antony said: “Augmentation of combat capabilities of armed forces is an ongoing process based on operational requirements. A Long Term Perspective Plan has been drawn in this regard.”
On the status of Naresh Chandra Committee report which was set up to review the national security, the minister said: “The task force on National Security constituted by government has submitted its recommendation.”
The national security council secretariat is conducting inter-ministerial consultations on recommendations of the task force, he said.
On cases of corruption regarding defence lands, he said: “Seven cases of alleged corruption and irregularities regarding defence lands have been reported to the ministry.”
Antony also informed the House on steps taken to streamline proper management and protection of defence lands.
“Defence land records as available in military land registers (MLRs) and general land registers (GLRs) have been computerised and are being continually updated and authenticated,” he said.
Two projects on digitisation of land records and survey of defence lands using modern technology are presently under implementation and guidelines have been prescribed for the purpose of issuing No Objection Certificates for construction of buildings close these areas. “Considering the importance of land as natural resources, land audit of defence lands is being carried out and prompt action has been taken by the government whenever such cases have come to light to act as a deterrent to potential wrongdoings,” Antony said.
Computer networks of the Eastern Naval Command were “probably compromised” after hacking attempts in 2011 and appropriate steps have been taken since then to strengthen it, Antony said.
“There were intelligence reports in November, 2011 about probable compromise of computers of Eastern Naval Command based in Visakhapatnam,” he said.
Antony said that hacking is a constant and real threat worldwide in the cyber domain.
On steps taken to strengthen cyber system, he said: “The matter has been investigated and appropriate steps have been taken to strengthen security of network.”
The defence minister was replying to a question “whether Chinese hackers have succeeded in hacking the sensitive network of Eastern Naval Command based in Visakhapatnam and stealing intelligence inputs.”
Agencies
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