Bad work conditions, lack of recognition, low wages and long working hours.
New Delhi: The recent incidents of fratricide in the Border Security Force (BSF) have brought to the fore the inhospitable working conditions, “lack of recognition” from the government and society at large, low wages and long working hours in hostile conditions, that lead to depression, anxiety and resultant anger.
Many BSF officers that this newspaper spoke to have said that their men who work for the country putting their lives at risk and guarding the borders of this country, are often paid “peanuts”, with no leaves, no personal life and uncertainty and lack of transparency over promotions.
“When your pay is very less, no promotions for years, little or no leaves for months and one has to continuously work for hours and hours, it is bound to create some sort of mental trauma within. I have experienced many of my men coming to me saying that their wife is unhappy with him because she is unable to send her kid to a good school, while her neighbour can afford much more. They also complain about the lack of transparency in promotions. One doesn’t know when they would be promoted, they (BSF personnel) see their peers being promoted every few years, while our men linger around the same post for years. My men don’t look up to anything with passing time. This creates agony within them,” a commandant level BSF officer told this correspondent.
The average pay (in-hand monthly salary) of a BSF Constable is Rs 23,000, while for Head Constable it is Rs 27,000. A BSF sub-inspector receives a monthly in-hand salary of Rs 35,000 and Rs 40,000 for Inspector level officers, while Major Subedar in the BSF receives Rs 45,000 monthly, and a Commandant of the BSF receives Rs 82,000 as monthly salary.
However, it is also pertinent to mention here that the promotion from Head Constable to Sub-Inspector and from there onto Inspector and higher takes years for a serving officer. According to a BSF constable, it might take 30 years for a Constable to be promoted to Inspector level and for an Inspector it is almost impossible to reach the level of a commandant in the BSF.
Another senior BSF officer said that more than anything else, the men in BSF needs respect. “If an officer puts his life at risk and goes to the borders and hostile environment knowing that he can be killed anytime without asking any question, the least he can expect is respect from the government and the society,” the second BSF officer said.
The leave allowance within the BSF is also questioned by the men in the forces. Some officers also complain that they are not allowed transparent leaves and many a time, when they are posted in high altitude operational areas, they are unable to speak to their family for days. This, according to many BSF personnel, sometimes takes a toll.
At least two incidents of fratricide have been reported by the Border Security Force (BSF) where seven officers of the border guarding force have been killed by its own men, just in the last two weeks. On 6 March, five BSF officers of the 144 battalion were shot dead by a BSF Constable identified as Satteppa S.K. in Khasa, Amritsar, who later shot at himself as well. Another incident of fratricide was reported from the BSF the very next day where a Head Constable, Johnson Toppo had shot his colleague and head constable HG Shekharan of the 117 Battalion posted in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district.