In the Rajya Sabha today, members expressed concerns over the plight of jawans of para-military forces facing stressful working conditions and demanded that the government should initiate steps to improve their service conditions.

Raising the matter during Zero Hour, Mr S S Ahluwalia of BJP said as many as 46,000 jawans of para-military forces had sought voluntary retirement in the last five years due to poor service conditions.

He said, of the total 45,981 jawans seeking premature retirement, BSF topped with 22,260, followed by CRPF 11,300, Assam Rifles 5600, CISF 3600, ITBP 1600 and Sashastra Seema Bal, 1400.