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Troops still short of boots, masks in icy Himalayas!
Fifty-three years on, Indian Army soldiers in the icy Himalayas suffer a crippling shortage of snow boots, ski masks and ammunition, among others - precisely the cause of the crushing defeat inflicted by the marauding Chinese forces in 1962. Parliament\'s standing committee on defence, in its report tabled in the just concluded winter session, says there\'s a shortfall of 447,000 ski masks,
Necessary steps should be taken by the (Defence) ministry so that ammunition in required quantity and of high quality is always available with the Army. Otherwise, it would not be possible for the country to sustain a war for a longer period
New Delhi: Fifty-three years on, Indian Army soldiers in the icy Himalayas suffer a crippling shortage of snow boots, ski masks and ammunition, among others - precisely the cause of the crushing defeat inflicted by the marauding Chinese forces in 1962. Parliament's standing committee on defence, in its report tabled in the just concluded winter session, says there's a shortfall of 447,000 ski masks, 217,388 high-ankle boots, 186,138 bulletproof jackets, 13,09,092 brown canvas rubber sole shoes with laces, and 126,270 mosquito nets.
"The committee is surprised over the fact that such deficiencies of basic items of regular use, where no high-end technology is warranted, were allowed to exist," the panel, headed by Major General B C Khanduri (retd), said. An Indian Army representative was quoted in the report as stating there is a "major deficiency in operation and training stock", "inadequate capacity and quality issues of indigenous ammunition by Ordnance Factory Board (OFB)" and "inadequate budget support for the Ammunition Roadmap".
Thus, the committee recommended that "necessary steps should be taken by the (Defence) ministry so that ammunition in required quantity and of high quality is always available with army at any given time. Otherwise, in the opinion of the Committee, it would not be possible for the country to sustain a war for a longer period".
As for the non-procurement of 186,138 bullet proof jackets, sanctioned in 2009, the committee felt that the figure...must have soared in the last five years due to increase in number of new recruits and also the wearing down of the old stock. On the non-performance of the indigenous 5.56mm INSAS rifle that was meant as a replacement for the standard-issue AK-47, the panel found it "shocking" that even in 53 years, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had not been able to develop "a world class basic product like a rifle".
The committee also expressed "surprise" that the funds for raising a mountain strike corps (some 30,000 personnel) was to be taken from the army's budget and there was no separate allocation. "As informed, an amount of Rs 5,000 crore has been earmarked for it, but it is not over and above the actual budget allocated and the army has been asked to raise this corps out of its own budget," it said.
"It seems very impractical and incongruous that a new corps is being raised with war wastage reserves.” To be based at Panagarh in West Bengal, the mountain strike corps is meant to counter potential threats from China. It will be the army's fourth strike corps after the Pakistan-central formations based at Hissar, Ambala and Bhopal.
By:Anjali Ojha
