New Shoes for our Soldiers – Indian Army to Replace Old Canvas Shoes with Cool Sports Shoes

Indian army will soon bid goodbye to the vintage World War II era PT shoes and get modern sports shoes. The new shoes will have a life span of about 15 months as compared to current ones which only last six months.

Jawans of Indian army take some of the toughest routes, walk on the hardest roads and follow some unconventional paths. And they have been doing so wearing those outdated, thin, brown canvas PT shoes.

But not anymore; our heroes will soon get new branded shoes to replace their current footwear.

Until now, the army has been using shoes which were commissioned during the time of World War II. Since then, nothing much has changed and the jawans continue to use that not-so-good-quality vintage footwear.

Photo for representation purpose only. Source: defence.pk

As per a report by Indian Express, today’s jawans don’t like to wear those old shoes. They prefer wearing smart sneakers when they are in civil dress. In fact, army’s basketball and cross-country teams are given branded sports shoes from the regimental funds.

The new shoes will be better in quality and will have a longer life-span, which can last for around 15 months as compared to the current shoes which last for about six months only.

The army currently gets about 20 lakh shoes from the Ordinance Factories Board every year. They are finally realizing that not all physical activities can be done with the same pair of shoes.

Back in 2011, a similar proposal to change army shoes didn’t work out because of opposition from Maneka Gandhi who was against the use of cow leather in the sneakers that were being bought. The proposal was then dismissed. But this time, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is supporting the issue and jawans might soon get the shoes made with modern technology.

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