Defence Ministry finally initiates action for procurement of bullet proof helmets

 

Ministry of Defence has finally initiated action to issue Request for Procurement of Bullet Proof Jackets and Ballistic helmets for jawans in this financial year. The move comes after repeated letters written by Trinamool Congress MP Vivek Gupta.
RISKING THE LIFE OF JAWANS
 “The issue was raised in Parliament Session in 2015 and 2016 but it fell on deaf ears. Series of letters were sent to almost all departments to consider the crisis in the forces for jackets. It is practically risking the life of jawan who is fighting at the border for the country,” explains Vivek Gupta. The BJP government has been claiming the credit for surgical strikes and action against Pakistan but the irony is that the same government has delayed the procurement of the bullet proof jackets for the jawans for more than a year. The Request for Procurement ( RFP ) of 1,86,138 bullet proof jackets was retracted on 5th October 2015. The RFP was again issued on 4th April 2016 by the Ministry. “Almost 2 lakhs of bullet proof jackets were to be ordered last year, which didn’t happen. We tried to raise this issue at the Parliament and also gave letters to various Governmental offices but it did not work. Finally I submitted a petition in the Parliament and got a reply a few days back.
 It read that 50000 jackets have been ordered by March. And the order procedure for the remaining 1.5 lakhs of jackets has been started from April. I don’t understand why this unnecessary delay for such essential requirements,” said Gupta. The opposition parties have been time and again raising the issue of using of surgical strikes for political benefits in impending elections but the problem does not end with just ordering of procurement. “There is a delay on almost all fronts. Maybe the Central Government is busy in some other works and thus they are not paying any attention to this issue. Apart from bullet proof jackets there are other commodities like socks and helmets which are also critical matters and somehow are getting hidden in our list of priorities” states a perturbed Vivek Gupta.