A Central Reserved Protection Force (CRPF) constable, Jeet Singh, has uploaded a video addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which he has complained about the dire conditions in which CRPF jawans have to perform their duties.
The video has been uploaded just a few days after Border Security Force (BSF) jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav's video about the poor quality of food served to soldiers stationed in forward posts caught the nation's attention and put renewed focus on the working conditions of soldiers.
In the video, Singh is heard saying:
"We offer security during polls, at the Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha or municipal or a gram panchayat election. We secure the public sites like airports, religious shrines, temples, mosques, gurudwaras... But We don't get canteen facility. We don't even get medical facilities... Our pension has stopped.. We don't even get our holidays in time. And our duty is always the maximum..."
Singh has also compared the salary of government teachers and other employees, along with the perks they get, with that of CRPF personnel, alleging discrimination.
Singh also says in the video that their pensions have been stopped.
"People in Army enjoy several perks like One Rank One Pension (OROP), canteen facilities, medical facilities and the stature of ex-servicemen after retirement," he says. "On the contrary, the people in CRPF do not get any pension post-retirement."
In response, the CRPF has issued an official statement saying that Singh's highlighting of the alleged discrimination between the armed forces and paramilitary forces personnel should not be seen as a complaint, but as an "aspiration".
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
According to the Times of India, Singh is from Mathura and is currently posted in Mount Abu in Rajasthan.
In his video uploaded earlier this week, Yadav, who is posted on the border in Jammu and Kashmir, had said that jawans were provided with poor quality food while higher-ups in the force illegally sold off rations in the market meant for them. Around 90 lakh people have watched the video and around 4.4 lakh have shared it on social media sites.
Also On HuffPost:
