New Delhi, May 11 (KMS): Many Indian troopers of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) either fell to bullets or became prey to deadly diseases while waiting for more than 20 years for a peace posting.

Giving an insight into the plight of the CRPF personnel, an internal report of the largest paramilitary disclosed that over 80 percent personnel were not able to get peace posting even after 20 years of strenuous service. Moreover, 75 per cent of the over 2.5 lakh CRPF personnel’s service period is spent in continued deployment, with 92-gazetted officers not being able to keep their family with them for 20 years, according to the report.

The officials were posted for over twenty years continuously in fields but could not get peaceful static posting in their 35 years average service length, it said.

Indian news agency, Press Trust of India, quoting official sources said that the over-stretched deployment of the force, which has the mandate of maintaining internal security, has led to a situation in which nearly 50 percent personnel are suffering from various ailments like skin diseases, depression, hypertension, heart and psychiatric problems among others. Official statistics pointed out that from 2005 to 2008, 1,425 CRPF personnel died due to various diseases.

According to official records, more than 52,000 CRPF personnel are suffering from various skin diseases, 27,000 from hypertension and 7,000 from diabetes. While about 6,000 personnel have got hepatitis, about 1,300 are suffering from HIV and 700 are affected with cancer. The list of those under medication also includes 16,300 malaria cases. Over 6,200 personnel are suffering from heart diseases with an equal number suffering from depression and psychiatric problems. "Most of the diseases suffered by the personnel are because of the high pressure under which they work," the sources said.

At present, over 77 battalions (over 77,000 personnel) of the force’s total operational battalion (181) are deployed in occupied Kashmir. Another 44 battalion, which amounts to 24 percent of the total operational battalions, are posted in the insurgency-hit Northeast states of India while another 19 percent of the force is posted in Naxal-hit areas. "Most of the time, there are no places for the personnel to stay. In Northeast and Naxal-hit areas, they even stay in forests for days altogether under a tent," the source said. 
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