A video by a disgruntled Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) constable Jeet Singh, addressed to Prime Minister Modi has gone viral on the internet. Jeet Singh is heard complaining about the poor state of affairs in the paramilitary forces. It is the second video in a span of few days where a soldier has broken the protocol and publicly alleged that the paramilitary forces do not provide proper facilities to its soldiers.
In the video, Singh has complained about the salary structure and said that while teachers in government institutes get Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 salary along with other benefits such as a leave policy, CRPF jawans are posted in adverse conditions with no such benefits.

Singh said that while the Army personnel do have a pension policy, paramilitary jawans don’t. Singh has also expressed his concern regarding the future of CRPF soldiers about their financial stability after they retire from the service. “We don’t have ex-servicemen quota and no medical facilities, no canteen facilities,” Singh has alleged in the video. Singh further alleges that the facilities given to Army personnel were better than those given to paramilitary men in every way and therefore this was discrimination.

Singh also said in the video, “We guard almost every important establishment in India. We are deployed for VIP, VVIP security, also for National and State assembly elections. That’s not all, we are also posted for gram panchayat elections. Still, we don’t  have facilities at par with the Indian Army.”

On Monday, in a series of three videos that took social media by storm, Tej Bahadur Yadav, a BSF jawan complained about his desperate condition at a border outpost. 

“Governments change, but our situation doesn’t change. We only get a parantha and tea as breakfast and this is without any pickle or vegetables. We slog for 11 hours and at times we have to stand throughout the duty hours. For lunch, we get dal which only has haldi and salt with roti. This is the quality of the food we get. How can a jawan do his duty?” said Yadav.  In the video, Yadav is also seen walking through a kitchen and showing sub-standard quality of food. The video prompted authorities to take serious cognisance of the issue.

The BSF headquarters have brushed the allegations and has published a release stating, “Constable Tej Bahadur as an individual had a difficult past. From initial days of his career, he needed regular counseling. Different correction mechanics have been applied for the individual’s welfare as he was a habitual offender of absenteeism without permission, chronic alcoholism, misbehaving and using force with superior officers and certain other acts against good order and discipline. For such reasons, the individual has served mostly in headquarters under the supervision of some dedicated superior office.”

These videos highlight a sense of discrimination perceived by soldiers in Paramilitary forces vis-a-vis the Army. This discrimination though identified quite early, has not been dealt with properly.