WATCH: CRPF jawan now vents grievance on social media

Close on heels of video messages of Border Security Force (BSF) constable, Tej Bahadur Yadav—who alleged pilferage of ration and inedible food being served to jawans in the force—another video of a Central Reserved Police Force (CRPF) has surfaced in which he has appealed to the Prime Minister to end discrimination against CRPF men.

The CRPF jawan, Jeet Singh in the video uploaded on his Facebook page addressed the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked, “We fight Maoists and militants—and receive bullets for the country. Then why we are discriminated vis-à-vis army personnel?”

In the video, the jawan said, “I want to ask the Prime Minister of the country, is there any duty which we CRPF jawans don’t perform? Whether it is parliamentary elections, assembly or even panchayat polls, airport security, VIP, VVIP duty........we are deployed everywhere. We are even stationed outside temples and mosques. But when it comes to facilities, we always get unfair treatment. There is no one to listen to our grievances.”

“While Army men enjoy pension, our pension scheme has been scrapped. What would a jawan do when he leaves the force after 20 years? We don’t even enjoy ex-servicemen quota or even canteen and healthcare facilities,” he rued, asking, “don’t we deserve all those facilities and benefits which Army men are entitled to?”

There is clearly deep discontentment brewing among CRPF constabulary as the Government, according to sources, scrapped the pension scheme for the personnel who were recruited from 2004 onwards.

“The family of a CRPF jawan—who gets killed in militancy related violence, doesn’t get the benefits which the next kin of Army martyrs get from the government,” sources claimed.

“Teachers who sit comfortably in government schools and colleges get a monthly salary of ₹50,000 to ₹60,000. They also enjoy holidays on festivals but CRPF personnel are always on duty in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, North-East and Kashmir.”

Another CRPF jawan, pleading anonymity told National Herald, “Unlike army personnel, jawans of CRPF and their family members have to avail healthcare facilities at civil or private hospitals.

“Jawans don’t use shoes, uniforms and other goods supplied to the units by private contractors. The colour of pants doesn’t match that of shirts—and they are invariably cheap and not so well-made. The jackets, shoes, socks, undergarments meant for snow-bound areas are of poor quality,” he claimed, adding that “jawans mostly spend from their own pockets to purchase these things from the market on their own.”

“The provisions government provides us at CPC (Central Police Canteen are costlier than the goods available at CSD (Canteen Stores Department) in Army,” he complained.

He further claimed that even in higher ranks there was discontentment over stagnation. “Earlier, an officer would get promoted in four to five years. Now it takes seven to eight years.”