As the 1.3 million-strong Army moves to replace its brown canvas PT shoes with sports shoes, the Indian Air Force appears to be following suit. The IAF currently provides white canvas PT shoes to its men which, if things go according to plan, will be replaced by sports shoes specially developed for IAF personnel by Bata. [related-post] In 2013, the IAF had raised a developmental indent for designing a sports shoe to replace the canvas shoe. Though many firms responded, Bata was the only company that successfully developed a shoe that matched the qualitative requirements framed by the IAF. All development indenting is done by the IAF through its Directorate of Quality Assurance Services (DQAS), which comes under the Nagpur-based Maintenance Command. Sources in the Air Headquarters said the DQAS was shifted under the Maintenance Command a couple of year ago after the IAF received frequent complaints about the quality of clothing items issued to its personnel. Although the Ordnance Factories Board is supposed to supply the canvas shoe to the IAF, its failure to do so means all IAF bases buy the shoes as a ‘local purchase’ item. “It is a discipline issue as well. We have been lenient as airmen are wearing civilian sneakers bought from CSD canteens for official PT parades,” an AOC commanding an air base in Western Air Command said. As reported by The Indian Express, the Army has gone ahead with its plans to replace the brown canvas PT shoe issued to its soldiers with a modern sports shoe. The Army sports shoe, unlike the IAF one, is not specially developed for the soldiers, and is being chosen from commercially available products. The shoe developed by Bata for the IAF is white and grey in colour, and is expected to cost around Rs 1,000 per pair. It will be issued free of cost only once every 12 months to the airmen, unlike the canvas PT shoe which is issued every six months. According to sources in the Air Headquarters, IAF’s initial demand is for more than one lakh pairs. But as Bata is the only developer, it has attracted Defence Procurement Manual’s provisions of a Single Vendor tender. This means that the IAF can place an order for only 80 per cent of the requirement with Bata, under a proprietary article certificate, for the sneakers. The balance 20 per cent will have to be supplied by other vendors. The process has been further delayed after the new financial regulations were issued in April. Under the powers delegated to the Air Headquarters, the case for procuring shoes from Bata will go to the Defence Ministry for sanction. Officials feel this could complicate matters and delay the whole process.
