The modest banyans or ganjis (vests) which the Indian Army’s soldiers don during their physical training sessions will be a thing of the past soon. Army chief General Bikram Singh has ordered that all the jawans, around ten lakh in number, will now get a pair of top quality combat T-shirts free of cost every six months.
The project is worth over Rs 30-crore and the Army will float a tender soon, inviting bids from top manufacturers. So far, the Army provides only two pairs of free-of-cost uniforms including boots and regulation coloured pair of socks to its jawans every year. But for PT and mandatory sporting activities, the jawans have to spend from their own pockets to buy cheap T-shirts or “ganjis.”
Singh’s order for this image makeover came last week after the Army submitted a detailed report about providing combat T-shirts to jawans. He also directed the Army Headquarters to go through the tender process and selection of the vendor at the earliest, officials said here on Wednesday. The T-shirts similar to those donned by soldiers of most advanced countries will be multipurpose as they can also be worn underneath uniforms thereby reducing the financial burden on the jawans and also making them feel good, they said.
The present PT attire of either white or jungle green “ganji” or T-shirt, pair of khaki shorts and brown PT shoes has been continuing for more than 50 years. The changing social profile of jawans in the last one decade and their exposure to TV, showing smartly attired soldiers of other armies forced the Army to revisit its archaic dress code, officials said.
While the T-shirt project is now on, experts are also carrying out a feasibility study to provide tracksuits to the jawans free of cost. As of now, the battalion commanders provide track suits to their units from regimental funds but it is not mandatory.
If the study finds favour with the Army Headquarters, all the jawans will also get tracksuits, they said adding the report is expected next month. However, the Army’s much-touted plan to do away with the brown canvas shoes by equipping the jawans with branded sports shoes is yet to take-off following controversies miring it.
The Army will now float a fresh global tender in December. Admitting the fact that the project got delayed by three years after the Government gave the approval in 2010, officials said the Army has now finalised the cost of the shoes. Pegging the price at Rs 800, the Army asked the Central Government-run Footwear Design and Development Institute, NOIDA, to finalise the design based on the specifications laid down by the Directorate-General Quality Assurance (DGQA) of the Army.
The Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI) has submitted its final report to DGQA and the Army will float the tender worth over Rs 80 crore after going through the technical evaluation report of DGQA, they said. Given the varied terrain in which the jawans are deployed, all the five Army Commands were asked to try out sports shoes of nearly ten reputed companies and these commands gave the feedback two months back, they said. The Army chief recently reviewed the progress of this project and pulled up his officials for the delay, officials added.