Share grievances with me, not on social media: Army Chief tells jawans

Days after a BSF soldier, Tej Bahadur Yadav, deployed along the India-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir, alleged in a Facebook video that troops are served bad quality food, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Sunday urged the jawans to discuss their grievances directly with him instead of posting them on social media.

Addressing the Army Day function, he said, "There are proper channels in place for the jawans to put across their grievances. If they are not satisfied with action taken, they can contact me directly instead of airing their problems."

"A few of our friends have taken to social media to speak about their complaints. This affects the soldiers deployed at the borders," he added.

The Army Chief further said that he salutes the martyrs, who gave their lives for the country.

"Providing security to the people living across the Line of Control was a priority and the army will not refrain from giving a befitting reply to the ceasefire violations," he said.

General Rawat said that they were undertaking certain confidence building measures with China at Northern borders so that the tensions can be done away with.

Earlier on Friday, the Army Chief announced a new grievance redressal system under which complaints would reach him directly while the identity of the complainant would be kept a secret.