Opposition seeks govt intervention over ‘ill-treatment’ of jawans

THE INCREASING number of complaints regarding ill-treatment meted out to defence personnel echoed in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, with the Opposition seeking the government’s intervention on the issue.

When the MPS raised the issue of a soldier’s death in Maharashtra recently, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar refused to comment on it, but said the Army has been asked to work out a mechanism to ensure that the complaint is addressed.

“I can very clearly say that as far as the ‘Sahayak’ system is involved, the Army has been told to work out an appropriate mechanism to ensure that the particular complaint which is coming up is addressed,” Parrikar said in the Lok Sabha.

Before Parrikar intervened, Lok Sabha witnessed protests by Opposition MPS against Minister of State Subhash Ramrao Bhamre, whose reply to their questions did not satisfy them.

The issue came up in Question Hour, when Congress MP K C Venugopal referred to a number of reports on the social media and other platforms about the “ill-treatment towards jawans who are fighting against terrorists and our enemy countries by their superior officers.”

He said the family of Major Rishi, who was injured during an operation in the Valley last week, had been wrongly informed by Delhi Police of his death.

“I demand an inquiry into this issue. What action has been taken by the government to boost the morale of our jawans?” Responding to this, Bhamre said there was a well-laid down mechanism for redressal of grievances in the armed forces.

N K Premachandran of RSP then raised the issue of the mysterious death of Lance Naik Roy Mathew posted with the 214 Rocket Regiment of Nasik. He demanded an independent inquiry into the incident.

Parrikar said the matter was already under investigation. “The police are investigating. It is a matter of police investigation and I do not want to prejudice it by making a statement,” he said.