Border Security Force constable Tej Bahadur Yadav's videos alleged bad food was being served to jawans.
Highlights
- Claims of bad food not substantiated, Home Ministry reportedly told PMO
- In videos, BSF jawan spoke about diet of unseasoned dal, burnt parathas
- BSF alleged that jawan has a record of drinking and insubordination
A BSF soldier's claims of bad food and near-starvation in widely-shared Facebook videos are not correct, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office has been told by the Home Ministry according to the Press Trust of India.
In four videos, Tej Bahadur Yadav, a BSF or Border Security Force jawan posted at the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir had highlighted what he said was a diet of unseasoned dal and burnt paranthas.
Those claims have not been substantiated, the Home Ministry has reportedly told the PM's office, which had asked for details after the soldier's video went viral.
Opposition leaders also targeted the government on what they called the appalling neglect of soldiers.
In the videos that have been seen more than three million times, the jawan alleges that troops are served tasteless food and often go to bed hungry.
"This is breakfast - one burnt parantha and a glass of tea... no butter, no jam, no pickle..." he says in one video, and in another, he comments, looking straight into the camera: "Can a jawan do his duty with this kind of food? Share this video as much as possible and take our message to the government. Jai Hind!"
The constable talks about standing for hours in icy conditions.
A day after the videos surfaced, the soldier was moved from the Line of Control in Poonch to a Batallion in Rajouri. The soldier's family has alleged that he is being targeted for exposing reality.
The BSF has alleged that the soldier has a record of drinking and insubordination, but that he was not court-martialed on compassionate grounds.