New Delhi, November 28
In what is an indicator for future course correction in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the armed forces, there have been 449 suicides in three services in the past four years and 24 major and minor naval accidents during the same period. During the past 42 months, Indian Air Force lost 32 planes to crashes, eight incidents of fires or explosions have been reported at various ordnance factories while the DRDO is short of a whopping 2,776 scientists.

The Ministry of Defence has given these figures during the past four days while replying to questions from members of Parliament during the ongoing winter session of Parliament.

Manohar Parrikar, who took over as Defence Minister on November 10, has his hands full if he aims to correct these numbers.

Parrikar told the Lok Sabha in a written reply today that the forces have collectively lost 449 men to suicides between January 1, 2011 and November 21, 2014 – about 47 months, making it roughly 10 suicides a month or one trained soldier killing himself every three days.

The Army, which deploys its men for long periods in the insurgency-hit areas, has seen 362 case of suicides while the IAF and the Navy fall behind with 76 and 11 cases, respectively.

The year 2011 saw 105 suicides in the Army. A total of 10 cases of fratricide have also been reported in the force. The defence minister listed “long tenures of continuous deployment” among several contributory factors.

A total of 32 Indian Air Force planes and helicopters have crashed between April 2011 and November 19, 2014 – a period of 42 months. The maximum number of crashes had taken place in 2011-12, when 13 aircraft were lost, the MoD told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. Among the aircraft that crashed three were Su-30s, two Mirage 2000s, four Jaguars, three Mig-29s, one Mig-27, eight Mig-21s , two Mi-17 helicopters and one C-130J. The fleet of 194 Sukhoi-30MKI jets was grounded for almost three weeks after a crash on October 14. The Navy has seen 24 major and minor accidents since January 1, 2011, killing 20 persons. Four persons are missing.

For these accidents, 67 officers and others are facing action.

Indian Navy Chief Admiral DK Joshi had resigned after Submarine INS Sindhuratna caught fire on board mid-sea off the coast of Mumbai on February 26, killing two officers.

The MoD said in the Lok Sabha “there is a shortage of 2,776 scientists in the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as there has been no enhancement of scientific manpower since 2001”.

The DRDO, a wing of the MoD, has been recruiting scientists against the vacancies caused by retirements, superannuations and resignations. The other causes of concern are fires and explosions at ordnance factories since January 1, 2013. The MoD owns these factories which produce weapons and ammunition. Incidents have been reported from Dehu road, Itarsi (twice), Chanda, Katni, Aruvankadu, Khamaria and Badmal.

Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh said: “Steps are being taken to reduce manual intervention in various operations and processes.”

Alarming situation: IAF loses 32 planes

* 32 IAF planes and helicopters crashed between April 2011 and November 19, 2014, — a period of 42 months.

* The maximum number of crashes took place in 2011-12, when 13 aircraft were lost

* Among the aircraft that crashed are three Su-30s, two Mirage 2000s, four Jaguars, three Mig-29s, one Mig-27, eight Mig-21s , two Mi-17 helicopters and one C-130J