After jawans complain on social media, Army chief sets up new complains box to resolve issues.
Highlights
- Army Chief General Bipin Rawat responds to videos that went viral
- Jawans complain about poor food, pay and working conditions
- Will handle complaints and protect soldier's identity: army chief
After a cluster of videos of jawans highlighting their poor work conditions went viral this week, inciting public anger, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said that complaints or feedback by soldiers should be sent to his office rather than through social media, stressing the importance of problems being handled internally. General Rawat also told reporters, "In a force of over 12 lakhs, there will be grievances. And often the reason for grievances is something else." An army jawan posted in Dehradun said yesterday that
he wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office, the Defence Minister and others, seeking their intervention, but has been threatened and "tortured" after that.
Here are the 10 latest developments in this story:
"Don't come through social media. Have confidence in the seniority leadership," General Bipin Rawat said. "Social media is a two-sided weapon - sometimes it has a detrimental effect."
The army chief said that the identity of the solider making the complaint will be protected while the case is being investigated and later, the name will be deleted to guard against retributive action.
"Every jawan matters to us," said the army chief, adding that "grievance or complaint boxes" should be used to deposit written complaints that will then be taken up directly by his office.
Earlier this week, Tej Bahadur Yadav, a jawan with the Border Security Force or BSF, posted videos on Facebook that showed the food that he said was being served to soldiers like him at the Line of Control.
The videos quickly went viral racking up lakhs of views and front-page headlines.
The Border Security Force said that the complaint is being investigated and has moved Tej Bahadur Yadav away from the Line of Control to Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri. His family says he is being targeted for exposing the difficulties that jawans like him encounter.
The Border Security Force has also alleged that the solider has a drinking problem and has run into disciplinary problems earlier.
The Prime Minister's Office has asked the Home Ministry, to whom the paramilitary force reports, for details on the case.
Yesterday, an army jawan, Lance Naik Yagya Pratap Singh, posted another video in which he said his bosses in Dehradun harassed him after he wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over problems faced by the soldiers. "I had written an application to the PM in which I said that soldiers, who act as sahayaks, should not be made to polish shoes of officers," the soldier said to news agency PTI.
In a separate video, a constable from the paramilitary force CRPF has demanded parity in pay and other benefits between the army and other security forces.
Post a comment