NEW DELHI, May 17: Facing flak for several goof ups, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde today expressed disappointment over people misunderstanding him over his comments and said a “wrong impression” is being created.
Referring to a recent incident, where the minister had expressed his desire to bring in a new and attractive uniform for Home Guard personnel, Shinde said, it was misunderstood that he was intending to change the official dress of all central paramilitary forces.
“Sometime I make statement and some people at the higher level…Those who are retired…Misunderstand me. When I had talked about the (change of) uniform of home guards they took it for (change in) uniform of the entire paramilitary forces. Some people misunderstand me and give wrong impression…,” he said at a BSF event here.
Shinde had recently received flak for prefixing ‘Shri’ before the name of LeT founder Hafiz Saeed and disclosing names of victims of Bhandara rape incident in Parliament even though the fault was apparently on the part of officials who prepared the statement which he made.
“No, I will never speak (like that),” he said referring to the recent incident after which a few retired IPS officers apparently voiced concerns that uniforms of paramilitary forces should not be changed as they were designed after a lot of thinking. “I only meant that Home Guards should look smart,” he said.
“I have great loyalty to police force because I started my career from police…Smart young people should think (that) yes one day I will join the police and why not Home Guard. I appeal to youngsters to join Home Guard and civil defence,” said Shinde, who was himself a Sub-Inspector in Maharashtra police for sometime.
During the BSF investiture ceremony, attended by a number of serving and retired police officials of various forces, the Home Minister said politicians have “a lot of sources” more than what intelligence agencies possess.
Shinde asked BSF bosses to be “little more considerate” about the grievances and requirements of the troopers deployed on the border and for other internal security related duties in the country.
He said the force was observing 2013 as the ‘year of the jawan’ and promised to improve the living conditions of troopers on the borders over a two-year period.
The Home Minister also said his ministry was making “all out efforts” to provide all facilities that are given to retired personnel of central police forces under the ‘ex-CAPFs personnel’ category that he has recently announced for them.
This is on the lines of the ‘ex-servicemen’ categorisation for personnel of the three armed forces of the country which entails benefits in government-run enterprises and schemes.
Meanwhile, Shinde awarded some families of the 1971 BSF war veterans and gallantry award winners of the paramilitary force during the event held here to mark the 97th birth anniversary of its founding chief K F Rustamji. (PTI)
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