Army Set for Change, to Have Soldiers’ Grievances Officers

CHANDIGARH: In what can be described as winds of change seven decades after Independence, the Indian Army is readying to play a proactive role in dealing with grievances of serving soldiers with the local civil administration by introducing the concept of “soldiers’ grievances officers” (SGOs). These officers, as per the proposal, would be a dedicated junior commissioned officer (JCO) tasked to actively deal with matters of soldiers and their families pertaining to local civil administration and, if required, to accompany them to the concerned civil offices. The move is aimed to keep the soldiers and their families stress-free.

These SGOs would function under the supervision of higher authorities in the Indian Army.
Sources confirmed that the move is based on defence minister Rajnath Singh’s desire to ease soldiers’ woes and is based upon a concept developed by Punjab and Haryana high court lawyer, Major Navdeep Singh with inputs by former Army Chief General V P Malik to keep soldiers stress-free during deployment. The move is also aimed at boosting their morale by actively assisting them in addressing local grievances, bettering their mental health profile and thereby ensuring higher concentration on military tasks.

According to the proposal, successive defence ministers have flagged that inability to resolve local and domestic issues is a major cause of frustration and stress amongst soldiers, who are left to fend for themselves with current systems not operating efficiently. The concept provides for the designation of a graduate JCO as an SGO in each area headquarters, sub-area headquarters and station who would look after an earmarked zone.

Soldiers or their dependents with identity proof can contact the nearest SGO directly for resolution of their grievances related to local civil administration with minimal red-tape and the JCO would be authorised to even personally visit the concerned authorities in uniform. Higher military authorities would be informed by the SGO in case of any difficulty.

Army has sought Info on staff requirement

The concept also involves the introduction of a single SGO helpline number in the future and subsuming it with a mental health helpline for military personnel which was announced but never instituted.
Major Navdeep Singh, when contacted, refused to comment on this and said that the matter was being handled by the ministry of defence and the Indian Army.

Sources in the Army Headquarters confirmed that information has already been sought from all commands about the manpower or the infrastructure required to start the system. A senior officer commented that putting the SGO system into place would not require additional resources and it was designed in a manner to efficiently utilize the existing manpower, adding that this simple step would go a long way in not only better resolution of problems but also putting the minds of troops at ease while they serve in tough conditions away from families.

A retired Air Marshal on the condition of anonymity remarked that it was a progressive move for which the defence minister and the Army Chief must be thanked and hopefully, the Army SGOs would assist the other two sister services as well.

Source: ToI