Jawan's video: BSF gets two more days to submit report

New Delhi: Unhappy over BSF's interim report on a jawan's allegation about poor quality food being served to security personnel, the force has been given two more days by the Union Home Ministry to submit a detailed factual report on the controversy.

BSF Director General K K Sharma met Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi today and discussed with him various issues concerning the force.

"A few days ago, the BSF has given its interim report. They sought two more days to give a final report on the complaint of poor quality food," a senior Home Ministry official said.

Official sources said the Home Ministry seems to be unhappy with the interim report given by the BSF on its jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav's complaint that poor quality food was being served to the jawans posted along the border with Pakistan.

BSF has maintained that there was no shortage of rations at any post and security personnel deployed along the border had never complained about food.

They said the Home Ministry is looking at the issue of overall welfare policy for constabulary and how to improve their conditions as well as quality of food and directed the BSF to give a detailed report along with suggestions to improve conditions of jawans.

At the same time, the Ministry is of the opinion that no indiscipline would be tolerated among the jawans and anyone having complaint must utilise the existing grievance redressal mechanism rather than going public or using social media to highlight the problems. 

The Home Ministry has already conveyed to the Prime Minister's Office that it has found no substance in the complaint by the BSF jawan that poor quality rations were given to security personnel posted along the border, asserting "there was no widespread discontent" in constabulary over food.

A video by BSF jawan Yadav complaining about the quality of food had gone viral, triggering a flurry of reactions.

Yadav, wearing camouflage uniform and carrying a rifle, had claimed in the video that while government procures essentials for them, the officers "sell them off" in an "illegal" manner in the market and the personnel have to suffer.

He had also posted other videos in which he claimed that the quality of food served was not good.