The meandering case for the humble shoes

Leave alone the acquisition of submarines, fighters and howitzers, the Indian defence establishment ties itself in knots even on something as basic as PT shoes for jawans. Despite attempts to upgrade them to proper "sports shoes'' over the last several years, soldiers of the world's second-largest Army continue to be saddled with the thin brown canvas PT shoes.

The meandering case for the humble shoes is now likely to figure during the annual Army commanders' conference, to be chaired by General Bikram Singh from October 12 to 17, which will also dwell upon myriad operational and security issues ranging from the twin China-Pakistan threat to counter-insurgency operations in J&K and the north-east.

"The project for the acquisition of eight lakh superior quality PT shoes, which will cost around Rs 80 crore, will be raised during the interaction with defence ministry (MoD) officials during the conference. It has been delayed for almost a decade,'' said a source.

The vintage-pattern canvas PT shoes, incidentally, have performed service in the Army for over 50 years without any improvement in quality. "Jawans are issued one pair of such shoes every six months free of cost, as part of the 'life-cycle clothing' norms based on wear and tear of items,'' said an officer.

While not exactly demanding Reebok, Adidas or Nike shoes, the Army had initiated a fresh case with MoD for "better quality'' PT shoes in June 2010. While there was "in-principle approval'', the project got enmeshed in "price and specification'' issues despite some trials even being held for the large tender of eight lakh shoes.

MoD's finance wing stressed the Army adopt the specifications adopted by IAF for shoes made of "rexene and mesh''. "But there was no response from the vendors... it was referred back to MoD for consideration,'' said the source.

In between, some animal rights activists also jumped into the fray because one set of specifications laid down said cow leather could also be considered to make the shoes, apart from leather, canvas or cloth. This was after a feasibility study held the shoes made of cow leather would be a better fit for jawans since they would last longer.

Amid all this, the project for new PT footwear for jawans remains stuck. The Army also wants to introduce specially-designed combat boots for soldiers that would be more durable, flexible and light-weight than the existing heavy boots, but it also is yet to materialise.