Moving forward yet another step towards ”Atma Nirbhar Bharat”, importing peculiar clothing needed at specific and sensitive places by our soldiers may not be purchased at international markets provided the Indian Textile industry is able to take a leap in the areas of necessary innovations, research, designing and matching international quality standards. The promise and the spark in Indians are undoubtedly at par with those of the most advanced countries provided a chance , an opportunity and the requisite motivation were provided. General Bipin Rawat, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) is all hopeful about such a transformation going to take place which besides saving time , money and dependency, would result in wearing the Indian or indigenous pride by our defence forces. When we could do it in respect of arming our defence personnel with many modern and latest weapons manufactured indigenously , there was no reason in not reaching and passing this milestone as well. The encouraging part of the matter is that the process has started somehow in that for the last two years, there has been a lot of innovation in Indian Industry in respect of high altitude clothing for our troops and though imports do take place but the same on that count are on the gradual decline.
Extreme weather conditions where mercury falls down beyond imagination like in Ladakh region, Siachin region etc, a peculiar kind of clothing is needed that can sustain our defence brave hearts in such hostile climatic conditions as also in hot deserts, dry and humid climate . Not only this, we have a vast north eastern region with dense forests and mountainous terrains where troops deployment must wear clothing conducive to the climatic conditions which need all to be taken care of , sooner the better, by the indigenously manufactured textile items. There could be no better forum and a platform than the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) which had organised an event where the CDS made these observations. Could this aspect too not be looked deep into as to locally sourced clothing may not be getting adequate exposure as much of advanced technology was not needed at least for manufacturing winter clothing of the same standards as those of the imported ones? That needs to be thoroughly seen.
Agreed, overnight our Textile Industry cannot do it all unless initially there were strategic joint ventures with and acquiring the requisite knowhow from the foreign manufacturers. The probabilities could be the other way also like how shoes of peculiar standard and quality used by the military personnel were manufactured in UP in Agra, Kanpur etc and two Israeli companies were purchasing the same from them and then reportedly supplying to the IDF since 1950 but 1997 onwards there has been gradual shift favourable to the country’s defence interests in this respect.
It may well be appreciated as to the circumstances in which the General made these observations . The recent nine month long standoff between the PLO and Indian troops in eastern Ladakh and the deployment being there during intense cold season, crash imports from Europe, Australia , Canada etc were made to sustain comfortably our 40000 soldiers positioned at altitudes as high as 12000 to 18000 feet. Let all those clothing imported be examined to explore the possibilities of the same being locally sourced. Viable indigenous solutions shall have to be found out to lessen if not altogether eliminate, dependency on imports. Collaborative efforts need to be taken intensely to make Atma Nirbhar Bharat a mission, an economic revolution and a game changer as to why our country ranked among the first ones in the world in garments manufacturing , highest quality boot production etc cannot make jackets, insulated trousers, comfortable triple lined boots, gloves, socks, caps etc as required by our troops in different challenging weather conditions. Techno textiles have got to be encouraged and expanded to meet our needs and for exporting purposes as well.
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