New Delhi, March 10

A Parliamentary Standing Committee has slammed the Ministry of Defence for slow procurement of bulletproof jackets and expressed its unhappiness at the progress of the next generation Arjun tanks. It also questioned the slow pace of fighter jets’ acquisition for the Indian Air Force.The panel in its reports presented in both the Houses yesterday said “our soldiers continue to suffer due to the ‘insufficiency’ of BPJs (bulletproof jackets)”. The panel headed by BJP MP Maj Gen BC Khanduri (retd) said it “sternly wishes and hopes that the procurement of 1.86 lakh BPJs is made within a stipulated time frame, even though a huge deficiency of BPJs would continue to remain in the Army as compared to the requirement”. “The lives of our soldiers cannot be left in danger,” it said. The committee said the Army endured with a huge deficiency of arms and ammunition. The committee said it was ‘unhappy’ to find that the progress with regard to induction of Arjun Mark–II and termed it as ‘slow and tardy’.On the fighter jets, it said “It cannot help inferring that the intent of the government is not on the same trajectory as that of the Air Force”. — TNS