53 Years On, Indian Soldiers In Icy Himalayas Short Of Boots, Ski Masks
NEW DELHI: Once more as 53 years on, Indian Army soldiers in the icy Himalayas, to go by a parliamentary panel's report, 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 are 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".
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