"111 suicide case by armed forces personnel were reported in 2009 while till July this year, 59 such case have been reported," Defence Minister A K Antony said in a written reply.
A number of steps, including liberalisation of the leave policy, utilisation of religious teachers for counselling troops and improving the quality of food and rations for jawans have been taken, he added.
Antony said the stress-related issues of jawans were being addressed by formation commanders through work shops, stress-management courses and counselling sessions.
Answering another query, the Minister said over 10,000 soldiers have been conferred with gallantry awards since independence.
He added that the Param Vir Chakra awardees are given a monetary allowance of Rs 3000 every month whereas an Ashok Chakra award winner gets Rs 2,800 per month.
Published 18 August 2010, 10:00 IST