Jawans taking to social media could be punished, warns Army Chief General

If you are on social media, you must be aware about a jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav, who posted a video online of the living and working conditions of jawans in the border. As the video spread like wild fire and ministers had to intervene, Army chief general Bipin Rawat said if army personnel don't use "proper, specified channels" to air their grievances they will be liable to be punished.II

"Proper channels are in place for jawans to put across their grievances...if they aren't satisfied with action taken, they can contact me directly," General Rawat during an address on Army Day today.

"You will be found guilty for any action you take outside these channels and will also be liable for punishment," the General said.
General Rawat first talked about the grievances issue on Friday, after a jawan, Lance Naik Yagya Pratap Singh, posted a video on social media criticising the use of soldiers as 'sahayaks' or 'buddy'.

"I had written an application to the PM in which I said that soldiers, who act as sahayaks, should not be made to polish shoes of officers," said Singh, who's with the 42 Infantry Brigade in Dehradun. He alleged harassment by superiors for writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about these problems.

Today, the Army chief said the use of social media to highlight an issue could have deleterious effect on "brave soldiers guarding India's borders."

The Army says officers get 'sahayaks' for upkeep of their uniforms and weapons, as well as to act as their radio operators and "buddies" during combat operations. But parliamentary committees and other critics have slammed the 'sahayak' system as a vestige of the colonial era. They say officers blatantly misuse their 'sahayaks', getting them to do household work, walk the dogs and take kids to school.

The Army, on its part, has already asked the government to examine whether "non-combatants" should replace soldiers as 'sahayaks' in peace-time locations, while pressing for the system to continue in field and forward areas, said Gen Rawat late last week.

But using social media to air grievances isn't ideal, Rawat said. It can be a "two-sided" weapon which can be used favourably but also has "a detrimental effect", he said. The Army already has an "excellent" grievances redressal system that will now be topped by his "suggestions-cum-grievances" boxes, said the new Army chief.

The Army chief said anyone, irrespective of rank or service, can use this mechanism to write directly to him. Assuring full confidentiality, he said the name of the soldier concerned will be deleted before any action is taken.