The two videos of BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav and Lance Naik Yagya Pratap Singh of 42 Infantry brigade had gone viral across social media. But do you think it was right on their part to air their grievances through social media platforms? I strongly disagree because reaching out without improper channels is not the right way to solve personal grievances. Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat addressed his opinion on the Army Day parade in Delhi Cantonment saying, “A few colleagues are using social media to draw the media’s attention to their problems. It affects the morale of the jawans and thereby the army. You can be held guilty of a crime and get punished”.
According to a defense source, the problem lies with the leadership and mentality of an officer serving the Nation. Most of the jawans including officers have now started joining the defense forces because of the attractive salary. After the 6th pay commission, people started joining the forces. One has to be both physically and mentally fit to survive in the field. The true quality officer leads and should be capable of solving problems of the men under him. The army needs to produce tougher quality officers to lead their men in the correct manner. The communication gap between an officer and his “buddy” is one of the reasons why the jawans chose to reach out to the social media.
Another source said, “There are thousands of units in place. It is difficult to monitor the issue at every level. Hence a mechanism needs to be put in place. The Ministry is working on it”. Lance Naik Yagya Pratap Singh had said in the video that the soldiers were forced to polish shoes, wash clothes and walk dogs of the officers. He complained about the practice which is being followed. Chief Gen. Rawat on last Friday announced a suggestion and grievance system to solve problems without disclosing their names.
A soldier wears the uniform to serve the country and should be put in the field that he has been trained to do. While a personal maid can be hired for doing the daily household work of the officer and his family. Earlier, the jawans who joined the army were not educated and thus did not have a problem in doing the household work of their officers. But now the soldiers who join the forces are educated enough to upload a video on YouTube and reach out to the media for help. One earns fame by bringing personal problems to the media and at the same time defames the organization.
The army has taken steps to solve the grievances of the jawans but only time can tell if the old system of “walking dogs” will be abolished completely.
