Now, CRPF jawan petitions PM on disparity between forces

 After a Border Security Force (BSF) constable’s complaint about poor quality food being served drew nationwide attention, a CRPF jawan's video claiming disparity in facilities provided to army and paramilitary personnel has gone viral.

Jeet Singh (26), serving on Mount Abu, posted a video on social media addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his intervention to ensure facilities for paramilitary forces on par with military personnel.

CRPF Director General K Durga Prasad said the issues raised by the personnel were “already being discussed” and  even referred to the Seventh Pay Commission.

Prasad said the jawan had posted an “old video” shot during the One Rank One Pension (OROP) protests last year.

“The jawan has service-related grievances and is seeking parity in pay and other benefits. An Inspector General rank officer of the force has already got in touch with him. We have made it clear to the troops that problems, if any, will be addressed immediately,” he said.

In the less than three-minute video, Singh asks the viewers to name the duties that the CRPF does not perform.

“We do all duties. Whether it is Lok Sabha polls, Rajya Sabha polls, even some Gram Panchayat polls, VIP security, VVIP security, Parliament House, Airports, temples and mosques, we are deployed. Despite this, why is there a difference in the facilities provided to CRPF and Army. Why the discrimination?” the jawan from Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura asked.

The video comes close on the heels of BSF constable Tej Bahadur Yadav, posted on the Indo-Pak border, releasing a video detailing the poor quality of food served to personnel. In response, the BSF on Wednesday issued fresh guidelines for maintaining high-quality standards with food for its personnel on the border.

Singh said teachers are paid Rs 50,000-60,000 a month as salary while they also enjoy holidays for festivals and national celebrations. “We serve in the jungles of Jharkhand or in Jammu & Kashmir. There is no welfare, no leave. No one understands our pain, my friend,” he said in the video.

After retiring from the force, the future is bleak as there is no ex-servicemen quota or medical facilities, he contended.

“We have no problem with Army personnel getting facilities. We should also get facilities,” he added.