Bengaluru: DG and IGP Om Prakash wants mental health checkups for his men

Bengaluru: They are the guardians of law and their job demands them to be tough and resilient. But the number of suicides of police officers in Karnataka in the last three months suggests that the cops are either under tremendous stress and are unable to cope up with the pressure or they lack the ‘aptitude’ to take on the challenges of their profession and have landed themselves in a wrong career.

Three cops – two deputy superintendents of police and an inspector – have killed themselves since July this year, raising a serious concern in the police department about the mental wellbeing of the policemen.

Director General and Inspector General of Police Om Prakash last month sent a proposal to the state government requesting them to create a provision for cops to be counseled and treated for their overall wellbeing, including their mental health.

The DG&IGP told this newspaper that he had sent the proposal to the government last month. “We are not trained to assess or handle situations arising out of mental health and family related issues, hence we have requested the government to make a provision in which mental health and wellbeing of our policemen is looked after on an annual basis, from counseling to therapy, medical treatment and hospitalisation,” the police chief said.

In the proposal, the police chief has stated that there is an urgent need for a complete annual health (including mental health) checkup of all police men in the state and that the government should make a provision under which professionally qualified fresh graduates in psychology (counseling) can be hired on a contract basis along with trained psychiatrists and placed at each unit, police range and DG&IGP headquarters to offer counseling and therapeutic treatment to policemen, who are in need of professional help.

“The government has sanctioned Rs 1,000 per annum for medical checkup of police officials from the rank of constables to non-IPS superintendents of police.

The DG&IGP has requested the government to include mental health in the annual checkup of cops so that timely intervention and treatment can be given to them,” said an official source.