Sindhav Jogidas who vent his ire on social media. Photo courtesy the Facebook account: @veteranjawans
New Delhi, March 7
Another soldier has taken to the social media to complain about the system of ‘batman’ in the Army and ‘poor quality’ food served to the men in uniform.Sindhav Jogidas of the Army Medical Corps said he was airing his grievances publicly because his complaints to the Prime Minister’s Office and the Defence Ministry had gone unheeded.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)“I apologise to the people of the nation and the government (because) my video will hurt your sentiments. Every Jawan wants the respect of the Army to be high,” Jogidas said, speaking in Hindi.“How long can we tolerate? A lot of wrong things are happening.” Referring to the “batman” system, called “Sahayak” duty, he said some officers treated soldiers attached to their residence as their servants.“Jawans have to follow orders because those who speak (against it) are victimised.” He said he went to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office and the Defence Ministry to complain and again to the Prime Minister’s Office.“I did not want the issues related to the Army to come on the social media.“When the reply came, they slapped a case of disciplinary action against me and there were two courts of inquiry. I was harassed for a year but I kept quiet.“I took leave again and came to Delhi… I went to the Sena Bhavan (Army Headquarters) but no one allowed me to go inside. Then I wrote a letter to General Bipin Rawat but there was no reply.“At the end, I was given a chargesheet because I had written against my officers. I have already been punished twice. This time I had to give up 14 days of salary as fine.Video courtesy: Facebook posted on account of @veteranjawans“If we refuse any duty or break a rule, we are punished immediately. But when officers break rules, there are no rules or regulations for them,” he said.The soldier said “because of some officers, the Army is maligned”.“It is sad that instead of fighting the enemy, we have to fight within the force. It is true that we take salary for our duty but we are giving the most important years of our life to the Army.“Many brothers are united in this fight and we have been raising our voice time and again.“But no on listens to us… I want to ask if the government is really unaware of these facts or we are just being ignored.”The soldier also alleged that the food given to soldiers was of poor quality.“In many units they send food just for survival—the cheapest vegetables, fruits and worst kind of food is given. But I have no proof, so I will not say much on this.”The video comes days after Lance Naik Roy Mathew, who was seen criticising the ‘Sahayak’ system in a sting video, was found dead in a barrack in a Maharashtra cantonment on March 3.The Army said his “suicide” could be the result of events triggered by the sting operation.In January, another soldier, Lance Naik Yagya Pratap, alleged in a video that soldiers were exploited by officers. — IANS
Video courtesy: Facebook posted on account of @veteranjawans
“If we refuse any duty or break a rule, we are punished immediately. But when officers break rules, there are no rules or regulations for them,” he said.The soldier said “because of some officers, the Army is maligned”.
THE REALITY ABOUT THE DISGRUNTLED SOLIDIER
- With reference to the recent video uploaded by an individual of the Army Medical Corps (AMC), played on few TV channels, the matter has been investigated. The individual concerned is Sepoy Sindhav Jogidas Lakhubahi employed in AMC in the trade of ‘Housekeeper’. He has rendered nearly three years of service in the Army.
- Investigations have revealed the following facts:-
(a) While on his initial posting at Military Hospital (MH) Ranikhet, Sepoy Sindhav was late in rejoining duties after availing the leave for 2015. He was awarded Pay Fine for unauthorized absence from duty.
(b) The Sepoy applied for premature release from the Army for which his application was duly processed. The AMC Records, considering his limited service, advised counseling of the individual before taking the final decision. After the counseling, the individual changed his mind and decided to continue in service. He however, sought posting to a ‘field’ location.
(c) Subsequently, while still at MH Ranikhet, he, while on duty at the ICU, refused to obey instructions of Duty Nursing Officer to clean ‘bed pan’ of a bed-ridden patient at the hospital. It is to be noted that the task which he refused to perform, was a mandated task of his trade of Housekeeper. For this act of indiscipline, the Sepoy was awarded Seven Days Imprisonment within the Unit.
(d) Subsequent to his release from confinement, while on leave in January 2016, the individual submitted written complaints to the PM, RM and Director General of Medical Services, Army (DGMS-Army) against CO MH Ranikhet and OIC Section Hospital Haldwani. The complaints were independently investigated through a ‘One-Man Inquiry (OMI)’ and were found to be baseless. A Staff Court of Inquiry by the Formation HQ also found him blameworthy for having violated the established Chain of Command and laid down Chain of Correspondence. He was tried summarily for this act of indiscipline and awarded 14 Days Pay Fine.
(e) As per his request, the individual was posted to a MH in ‘field’ (Leh) and dispatched on posting on 27 February 2017. The individual is currently in transit to his place of posting.
- It must be noted that the individual has never been employed as ‘Buddy’ of any officer or JCO nor has he ever been asked to perform such a duty. His allegations related to this and ill-treatment of jawans by superiors, are false and baseless.
- It may also be noted that even in an earlier instance of a jawan putting allegations through a video uploaded on Social Media, of ill-treatment of ‘Buddies’, the said jawan also had never ever been employed as ‘Buddy’ of any officer or JCO in his 15 years service. The media must, therefore, verify the factual information from Army before going public on such issues that cast defamatory allegations on the institution of Indian Army.
- The operational and professional effectiveness Indian Army which rests on bedrocks of discipline, trust and spirit de corps cannot be diluted based upon false and non-existent perceived grievances and misdemeanors of a few.
Col Aman Anand
PRO (Army)