NEW DELHI, Feb 9: BSF jawans will now don yellow-red shoulder badges after the paramilitary force recently adopted a unique “in-house” mechanism to recognise seniority amongst the personnel.
Constables in the country’s largest border guarding force who have completed over 20 years of service have been given the badges which are akin to the ones that policemen wear when they are promoted from Constable to Head Constable rank.
The above move has come upon the directions of Border Security Force chief Subhash Joshi.
The badges, with senior constable written on them, were given to troopers across BSF formations on Republic Day and they now proudly wear it on their ‘Khaki’.
A large number of personnel in the 2.5 lakh-strong force had a grievance that they were not being promoted and had to serve alongside freshly-recruited constables.
“In police and paramilitary forces, rank matters a lot and the issue affects the personnel. A unique system was hence created in-house to give these constables their due,” a senior official said.
Officials said that BSF DG Joshi had met a number of troopers at ‘Sainik Sammelans’ in border areas who would request him to ensure they got timely promotions.
The DG later devised the plan and issued orders for the handing out of the badges which will state that they have been given as stripes of promotion.
The promotion backlog occurred after the Ministry of Home Affairs, in 1996, abolished the ranks of Naik and Lance Naik in these forces upon the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission.
The move created a stagnation in the ranks of constables as it took them more than 22-24 years to be elevated to the next rung even as their counterparts in other forces got promoted in 12-14 years.
The situation was so bad that many constables ended up retiring in the same rank as there was no avenue for their promotion.
The paramilitary forces, including BSF, have been asking MHA to find a solution, but no decision has been taken till date to fix the anomaly.
“I never expected that I would ever be honoured like this. After a few years in the service we knew that we would retire as constable… But at least I can now say I have earned some ranks,” Constable Dharamvir Singh, who works at the forces’ headquarters here, told.
Singh, who is eligible to be a Head Constable now, has worked for 20 years in the paramilitary force and is among those who have been given the unique badge. (PTI)
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