Army Chief instructs troops to avoid social media for complains, calls for 'internal' methods

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Friday called on his troop to raise their complaints internally instead of resorting to social media, referring to the chaos the ensured following the recent videos of a Border Security Force (BSF) jawan complaining about poor food and near starvation conditions in his posting.

"Through the media, I wish to reach out to the rank and file of the Army. Whatever complaint they should have, they can address it through the excellent grievance redressal mechanism we have. Anyone irrespective of rank and service can reach out to me directly. We want them to come directly to us rather than through social media," he said while addressing his first press conference.

After the BSF jawan's video, there have been more videos of defence personnel airing their grievances on pay and conditions.

The COAS said there are suggestions and grievance boxes in the Army headquarters and commands and urged the troops to use them.

"This press conference, which is held on eve of the Army Day, is very relevant to us, as I would like to reach every jawan through you (media). We are one team and we work as one force to ensure India is secure and peaceful," he said.

General Rawat's remarks come after a BSF constable took to social media to voice his complaint on the poor quality of food being served to the troops.

BSF constable Tej Bahadur Yadav posted a video on January 8 saying, "we don't want to blame any government because all governments provide us with everything but some senior officials sell them off. The situation is such that we have to sometimes sleep on empty stomachs.