OCCUPATIONAL STRESS IN THE ARMED FORCES: AN INDIAN ARMY PERSPECTIVE

The Indian army assumes tremendous responsibility and encounters a wide range of challenges in protecting the country and its people against external aggression and internal insecurity. However, in the past decade, the Indian army has witnessed suicides and fratricides by its soldiers, due to occupational stress. In this context, research was conducted to outline the occupational stressors triggering a stressful atmosphere in the Indian army through 415 soldiers selected from the Combat arms (Infantry and Armoured), Combat-support arms (Engineering and Artillery) and Services (EME - Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and ASC – Army Service Corps). The nine stressors explored through Exploratory Factor Analysis were ineffective leadership style, unsupportive colleagues, indifferent organizational attitude, inadequate training, inadequate awareness about profession, workload and job pressure, lack of control at work, role ambiguity, and role conflict. Further, Confirmatory Factor Analysis validated occupational stressor as an eight factor model in the Indian army. The study recommends commitment-based management approach in the army as an alternative approach to control-based management, and the introduction of regular Sahaja Yoga meditation in the army to improve the psychological and physical well-being of the Indian soldiers.