Entire country woke up to shocking video of BJS jawan in which he accused his senior officers of selling their supplies in the market and serving them substandard food. the video of Tej Bahadur Yadav went viral as he addressed PM Modi and even expressed fears of threat to his life.
BSF higher officials however refuted all allegations and transferred BSF jawan to another posting so that inquiry will be impartial even as Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh asked officials to show him the video and take necessary corrective measures.
Tej Pal Yadav in his facebook posted that jawans were served 'burnt parantha with tea'. He also alleged that they were served bland food and go to sleep empty stomach often.
It is coming out that every soldier, as per ration allowance, gets Rs 95.52 allowance per day in full lieu of ration. The special rate of ration allowance is fixed at Rs 191.04 per day. This is at par with the defence forces. Paramilitary forces are entitled to 2,900 calories, which is their daily requirement.
The allowance rate has been increased frequently from Rs 74 in 1975, Rs 183 in 1986, Rs 783 in 1998, Rs 878 in 2004 and since 2014, it has been Rs 2950.SS.Rautela, Retired assistant commander in Jammu HQ before his retirement in 2011 says "I have been a mess commander and I don't believe money can be siphoned off. If there are 15 soldiers with limited fund, what amount of money can be pocketed? Yes, there is a problem in winters."
He went on to add "We are disheartened as the force we served for so long is facing such allegations, which to my knowledge is completely false,". Though BSF is under the operational control of the army at the LOC,it has its own mess. The mess commander procures eatables from the Army but is cooked in the BSF mess.
In Tej Bahadur's case who was serving at the Road Opening Party with 11 hours of work, was deployed at the LoC under the Army operational control. The ration items, except condiments are drawn from the Army Supply Depot on book debit system. The condiments are purchased from open markets. The rates are revised every six months with condiment allowance being fixed and paid by the MHA.
The mess commander informs company commander on the cost of food purchase/ change in menu.The mess commander or company commander taste the food before it is served. But more often than not, money meant for purchase is at times pocketed comprising the food quality and quantity.
Tej Bahadur and his colleagues will be questioned in the enquiry to findout the truth. BSF admitted that food quality gets affected in winder season. BSF revealed that soldiers are served non veg four days a week.
