NEW DELHI: Even as Prime Minister’s Office (
PMO
) sought a report from the home ministry on the reported poor quality of food raised by
BSF Constable
Tej Bahadur Yadav, the force has said there was no shortage of food at the post Yadav served.
The BSF gave its final report to home ministry in which it has said food was not in short supply nor has any jawan complained about such a problem. Official sources said
MHA
will submit a detailed factual report on the incident to PMO soon.
With Yadav’s claims generating a lot of bad publicity, the government said it is taking all such incidents seriously and corrective steps are being taken to improve conditions of service personnel and food.
BSF told the government that an IG rank officer visited the post a week back. While the rations at the post on the line of control is provided by the Army, it is cooked by BSF personnel tasked for these jobs. The BSF said ‘daal’ shown in Yadav’s video posted on Facebook was from tinned food ration and ‘parantha’ was cooked in the unit mess as per procedures followed at high-altitude locations. But officials said while BSF is taking a careful look at its arrangements, the
Army is also looking into the food supply issue and will submit a report to government soon.
A jawan is entitled to around Rs 2,800 per month as food allowance and he is given food under the stipulated amount. Yadav, wearing camouflage uniform and carrying a rifle, claimed in a video that while government procures essentials, higher-ups and officers “sell it off” in an “illegal” manner in the market and that they have to suffer. He also posted other videos saying the quality of food served was not of good quality.
Meanwhile, an inter-ministerial committee with representatives from home, finance and other departments on Thursday discussed the issue of ‘risk and hardship allowance’ for paramilitary personnel as recommended by the 7th Pay Commission to find a solution to the longstanding demand. Official sources said home minister
Rajnath Singh is personally monitoring the issue.