BSF jawans complain about leave, postings and pension policy to Rajnath Singh

NEW DELHI: Home minister Rajnath Singh, during his two-day visit to West Bengal, got a sense of the frustration among the Border Security Force (BSF) jawans posted on the India-Bangladesh border, who complained bitterly on issues like leave, postings and pension policy of the government.

Singh, who met a group of 200 jawans at two locations, Angrail border outpost and at Teen Bigha Corridor in Cooch Bihar district, had to assure the BSF jawans that he would "positively consider" their request that in case of an injury to a BSF personnel while serving at the international border, he should be given a "compassionate posting on humanitarian grounds" near his home station.

A home ministry official told ET that the jawans made this specific demand, saying they never get a peace posting like the Indian Army as the BSF is perpetually posted at international borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh, and therefore asked Singh to extend the peace location benefits to field postings as well.

The BSF men also asked the minister to raise their annual casual leaves quota to 27 days from 15, citing the distances they have to travel from the border to get home.

The BSF men also complained to Singh that the New Pension Scheme (NPS) introduced by the government for government personnel joining service after 2004 was "not very beneficial" compared to the earlier pension scheme. But Singh clarified that he couldn't do much about this since it was a "policy decision" of the government, a home ministry official said.

Singh had a similar experience in September last year when he heard the grouses of CRPF jawans during his visit to Jharkhand, when he drove a motorcycle right up to a CRPF camp in the Naxalinfested Saranda forests.

The CRPF men had then lamented that a 'risk allowance' given to them to fight the Naxals was deducted from their salary for the days they went on leave. CRPF men had also asked Singh how they were supposed to raise their heads from crawling positions while fighting the Naxals when they did not even have bullet-proof patkas (lighter head gear).

The minister had then returned to Delhi and set up a committee to look into a revamp of the CRPF. "Opportunities coming to jawans of such direct interactions with the home minister are rare…they help the minister get a close look at the real problems. The jawans feel satisfied that since their complaint has reached directly to the highest quarter, action will follow," a ministry official said.