The Centre has sent teams of dieticians to all posts guarded by security forces along the Indian border to check the quality of food they are served, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said on Wednesday. “The jawans and their food and comfort is the top priority of our government. We have taken the matter seriously,” he said, according to IANS. Rijiju was referring to a video shared by a Border Security Force soldier in which he had alleged that they were given substandard food.

“The government has already deputed a brigadier-level officer of the BSF and an inspector general-level officer to probe the matter,” Rijiju said, adding that authorities had launched an inquiry to ascertain the authenticity of the video.

On Monday, Constable Tej Bahadur Yadav of the BSF’s 29th battalion shared a series of videos on Facebook, in which he showed the poor quality food that troops were served along the border and alleged that they were often forced to sleep on an “empty stomach”. Yadav also said that senior officers sell the supplies bought for them by the government.

The BSF initiated an inquiry after the videos went viral, but it highlighted that Yadav had faced disciplinary action for multiple reasons in the past, including “alcohol abuse, use of insubordinate language, habitual absenteeism and acting in a manner prejudicial to an official order”. The Home Affairs Ministry, too, had sought a report on the allegations.