After Yadav’s youtube video posts showing sub-standard food for BSF jawans made headlines, independent media reports from Srinagar (Times of India) suggest BSF officials allegedly sell fuel and food provisions to outsiders at half the market rate. If true, this is something completely unacceptable. The incident should serve as an eye opener and calls for a thorough probe by an independent agency.

The Government spends crores of rupees on food provisions for security personnel based on their nutritional requirements. It must make sure that there is no compromise over it. Judging by the initial response of authorities to Yadav’s unconventional complaint, it is apparent that they wanted to paper over the incident. They first removed Yadav from the border post and sought to malign him by telling the media that he was a habitual offender.

For the BSF authorities, Yadav continues to be an offender in a disciplined force. They may be right in their own way because a jawan is not expected to go public on his complaints. But what if his past complaints were not listened to and he could not bear it any more. In an age and times we are living in, the Government will do well to re-look the grievance redressal mechanism. A jawan like Yadav,for example, should have the right to put his complaints of common nature in the BSF’s internal web page not accessible to outsiders. It could have generated a debate within the BSF before any corrective action is taken. Surely, Yadav did not do so because this facility may not be available. Instead, he chose to go public.

Who knows what is true of BSF may be true in other orgnisations too. Within the Home Ministry, there are para-military organisations like the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Home Guards etc. They all have similar situations where thousands of jawans have to be fed daily in their work postings.

The issue has wider ramifications. There are such large number of armed forces personnel posted in inhospitable areas requiring special quality food. It goes without saying that a stiff and regular monitoring of food and other provisions is strictly called for and the complaint redressal system must be made foolproof.

While maintaining iron discipline, a slight transparency may a go a long way. The security forces may open up for internal discussions common issues like food, clothing, recreation etc. This may ease the tough situations they are often subjected to while away from home. There have been issues of stresses among jawans leading to suicides and “accidental firing” etc.

On Thursday, January 12, a CRPF personnel posted a video in public domain demanding parity in pay and perks with those of the Army. If he had a forum within the CRPF system, maybe an internal webpage, he may not have posted the video like he did in the public domain.

Imagine he stress that these people face. On Thursday, January 12 again, a CISF jawan fired at his colleagues killing four of them over a trivial issue of leave sanction.

Technology has overtaken normal lives to such an extent that people are finding it difficult to spend a day without cellphone. Interacting in social media is fast becoming commonplace. Our security personnel or those in the armed forces are no exception. Rightly, they are allowed to use cell phones to interact with their loved ones. They cannot be expected to shun social media completely. This is where Tej Bahadur Yadav erred.

To treat Yadav’s case in isolation will be grossly unfair. Get rid of the malaise instead of the individual. There may be hundreds of cases of this nature needing correction. Lack of quality control in food has led to ghastly happenings. Do you recall a Bihar incident where some 35 innocent school children died after eating a free mid-day meal about three years ago? (IPA Service)