As jawans have taken to the social media to air their grievances against senior officers, Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Friday asked his men to directly communicate with him and announced setting up of “suggestion-cum-grievance” boxes for this purpose. He also assured that the identity of the complainant would be kept secret to avoid harassment.
Rawat’s announcement came a day after an Army jawan posted a video on the social media criticising the exploitation of soldiers deputed as Sahayaks of the officers. While defending the Sahayak or “buddy” system, Rawat, however, said the Army has given a proposal to the Government to do away with this arrangement in peace stations and static locations.
Meanwhile, in a report to the Prime Minister’s Office, the Home Ministry (MHA) has said it has found no substance in a complaint by a BSF jawan that poor quality rations were given to security personnel posted along the border. The Ministry asserted, “there was no widespread discontent” in the constabulary over food.
In the report, the MHA conveyed to the PMO that there was no shortage of rations at any post in paramilitary forces and quality checks were being conducted regularly.
The Army chief’s remarks assume significance as the Standing Committee on Defence in its report some years ago criticised the Sahayak system as it led to ill treatment of jawans, who are combatants. The IAF and the Navy have stopped this system while the Army so far has resisted any attempt to do away with it.
On the spate of security personnel, including those from the BSF and CRPF besides the Army, airing their issues on the social media, Rawat said in his maiden Press conference ahead of Army Day on Sunday that the “social media is a double-edged weapon which can be used favourably but can also be detrimental.”
Maintaining that the Army has an “excellent” grievances redressal system and Army personnel should use it rather than indirectly communicating their woes, Rawat said, “I have issued orders that in Army Headquarters, we will have a Chief of Army Staff suggestion-cum-grievance box at various places. We will also have similar redressal-cum-suggestion boxes being placed at command headquarters and then subsequently at lower formations.”
Assuring full confidentiality, Rawat said anyone, irrespective of rank or service, can use this mechanism so that grievances can reach him directly.
Rawat said the soldiers should write to him with their names but he will ensure that the names of the complainants are deleted before any follow-up action is taken. He also said the PMO and Defence Minister have such complaint boxes and the Army has now set up such a cell to address the issue in-house.
Stressing that an effort was on to ensure that confidence in senior leadership in resolving problems of juniors is held steadfast, the Army chief said, “We would like people to come directly to us rather than resorting to the social media or other means. let the troops have the confidence in the senior leadership of the Army that their grievances, genuine of otherwise, will be addressed in right earnest. If dissatisfied, they can use other means.”
Rawat’s assurance came after lance Naik Yagya Pratap Singh of Rajput Regiment, posted in 42 Infantry Brigade in Dehradun, alleged that after he wrote to the PMO, the Defence Minister, President and the Supreme Court in June, his superiors began harassing him instead of investigating the issue and also initiated an enquiry, which could potentially result in his court-martial.
Singh, a driver, did not like some duties performed by Sahayaks. Highlighting the importance of the buddy system, Rawat said a Sahayak is a confidant of the officer and while some like doing some chores, others are averse to it.
Rawat denied reports that this trust deficit between officers and jawans was due to break down of communication. Admitting that there were “bad eggs” among jawans and officers alike, Rawat said sometimes the complainant is not able to properly put across his point leading to dissatisfaction or does not agree with the answer.
Seniors should address these issues and even if then the jawan is not satisfied, he is free to explore other channels, Rawat said. He also said in the 12-lakh strong Army, some issues like these will come up.