A Comparative Study of Quality of Life and Life Satisfaction of the CISF, ITBP and State Police Personnel

This study aims at comparison between the quality of life and Life satisfaction of the paramilitary forces in CISF (Central Industrial Security Force), ITBP (Indo Tibetan Border Police) as well as the state police force (Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh). The total sample of 744 was collected by purposive sampling method within clusters. The tools used were Comprehensive Quality of Life scale (Robert A. Cummins 1997) and Life Satisfaction Scale (LSS), developed at Jnana Prabodhini’s Institute of Psychology (2001). Data was analyzed using ANOVA (One Way) for group comparisons. In the overall factual quality of Life (F-QOL), significant differences were found on the dimension of health, productivity, safety, intimacy, emotional well-being, material well-being and place in community. Material Well Being and place in community were considerably low for all the three groups. For satisfaction dimension of quality of Life (S-QOL), significant differences were found on all the dimensions of Cummins’ QOL. Though score on material well-being seems to be low on factual level it is not reflected in perceived satisfaction with the same. While the factual dimension of safety is at a relatively better position in all the three dimensions, the respective perceived satisfaction seems to be very low in CISF and State Police. In the different dimensions of Life Satisfaction, few significant differences are obtained on economic, socio spiritual and total life satisfaction scores. ITBP is the highest on total or composite satisfaction, followed by CISF and then State Police. The findings have been studied under the light of relevant literature.