''No proposal for doing away with buddy system in army''

New Delhi: There is no proposal for doing away with the `Sahayak` or `Buddy` system in the Indian Army, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre said on Friday.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Bhamre said: "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."

The Minister said grievances brought to the notice of military authorities are properly redressed, and added that there is a new system in place now in which the grievance can be aired directly to the Army Chief through WhatsApp, after a soldier has exhausted all other options.

"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," Bhamre said.

"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," he told the Lok Sabha.

The minister said a total of 292 complaints from serving and retired personnel have been registered since February 2017.

"Every effort is made to ensure 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," Bhamre added.

Grievances have been aired about the Sahayak system in the army by the soldiers.

Earlier this month, Lance Naik Roy Mathew, a Jawan who was seen criticising the `Sahayak` system in a sting video, was found dead in a barrack in a Maharashtra cantonment on March 3.

Two more soldiers -- Sepoy Sindhav Jogidas Lakhubhai of the Army Medical Corps, and Lance Naik Yagya Pratap have earlier taken to the social media to attack the Sahayak system.

The army said both of them were never assigned any Sahayak roles.