‘Don’t use social media for raising complaints,’ Indian army chief tells soldiers

NEW DELHI: Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat has urged soldiers to raise complaints internally and directly instead of resorting to social media. 

“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,” he was quoted as saying in the Indian media reports.

“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, speaking at New Delhi’s Manekshaw Centre assuring that the identity of the soldier making the complaint would not be made public. 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.” Home Minister Rajnath Singh had also taken note of the video ordering an “appropriate action” into the incident. There have also been other instances of security forces personnel airing their grievances on social media.