(a) whether the Government has given a thought to do away with the system of Sahayaks or Buddies for commissioned officers and even Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) in the Army and if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether a helpline cell has been set up for the redressal of grievances by the personnel; and
(c) if so, the details thereof and the total number of complaints received by the cell along with the number of complaints addressed with satisfactory response?
MINISTER OF STATE (DR. SUBHASH BHAMRE)
IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
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(a) No, Madam. No proposal for doing away with system of Sahayaks or Buddies for Commissioned Officers and even Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) in the Army is under consideration of the Ministry at present.
(b) & (c): All grievances brought to the notice of superior military authorities are redressed appropriately. Besides, a ‘Suggestion / Grievance Box’ has been placed at all Headquarters down to the level of Division Headquarter where all ranks can forward their complaints directly to the Chief of Army Staff. A new grievance redressal mechanism has also been started wherein soldiers can air their grievances directly to Chief of Army Staff through ‘Whatsapp message’, after having exhausted all laid down procedures.
A total of 292 complaints from serving and retired personnel have been registered since February, 2017. Every effort is made to ensure that the complaints are dealt with till its final disposal to the satisfaction of the complainant. If the complainant is not satisfied with the redressal provided at one level, an opportunity is also given to him to take up the matter with the higher authority.
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