Soldiers shiver in Ladakh as ‘special’ jackets gather dust in Delhi

A big consignment of special jackets for Indian soldiers ordered from the US has been lying in a godown in Delhi for more than 15 days, despite the emergency in East Ladakh, reports Senior journalist Sanjib Kr Baruah.

New Delhi:In a telling saga of inefficiency in distributing the desperately-needed special high-altitude clothing for the Indian troops deployed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the severely cold and extreme high altitude positions in eastern Ladakh, at least 15,000 such jackets are gathering dust in an ordnance depot in Delhi for at least the last 15 days.

With India-China military tension escalating to dangerous levels amid the very strong possibility that the face-off will last well into the brutal winter, an order for 30,000 special ‘down’ jackets was placed on a company in the United States on an urgent mode under the High Altitude Clothing and Equipment (HACE) head.

According to a highly-placed source, while the deal was closed in “just a couple of days” because of the emergency nature of the requirement, the first consignment of about 15,000 such jackets reached India in and around October 2, but since then has been lying in a military depot in Delhi, waiting to be delivered to the troops at the India-China frontier. “It has been more than 15 days now,” the source told ETV Bharat.

On being contacted, an Indian Army official said while the jackets will be sent to Ladakh shortly, there is no urgent requirement at the moment. “Every soldier has a jacket, there is no one waiting for it.”

In a hard-hitting audit report this year, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had pointed out serious lapses and deficiencies in supplying HACE and special food to Indian army soldiers posted in the extreme zones like Siachen, Doklam, and Ladakh.

Citing an example, the CAG report pointed out that in the case of ‘Goggle All-Terrain’ an ECC&E item used to protect soldiers from visionary ailments at high altitude, the total stock ranged from just 5.6 per cent to 16.07 per cent against the total authorization rendering the stock ‘critically low’ due to poor supply.

Read:Army commanders to deliberate on India-China tension and cost-cutting reforms

Temperatures are already plummeting to more than minus 25 degrees along the LAC as the soldiers brave the cold in their makeshift shelters.

To beat the cold, these US-made jackets have at least three layers, have a ‘hoodie’, and are lightweight which is critical in areas where the air is oxygen-depleted and very simple physical tasks become very difficult to undertake.

While the innermost layer is made of fleece, the outer layers are made of polyester and do not weigh more than 2.5 kg. Waterproof with thermal vests, these jackets are ideal to combat the extreme cold and the wind-chill factor. These special jackets are single-issue items and are given to an individual soldier and not recycled.

More than 50,000 Indian soldiers have been deployed along the LAC in one of the biggest military mobilisations in the area in recent times.

The military tension between the two Asian giants began in April-May after sudden border rows snowballed into a major faceoff. At that time, both men and material were at short supply underlining the requirement for rapid deployment.

HACE includes Extreme Cold Clothing and Equipment (ECC&E) and Special Clothing and Mountaineering Equipment (SCME).

While ECC&E items are given to soldiers deployed above 9,000 feet altitude in the Eastern Command and above 6,000 feet in other commands, SCME items are supplied to soldiers in very high altitude areas like Siachen and now in eastern Ladakh.