The Central Reserve Police Force, (CRPF) which is fighting Maoists in many parts of the country, doesn't even seem to have enough bulletproof jackets to give its men.
In fact, this is true of the entire paramilitary. So ill-equipped is the paramilitary that there's a 40% shortage of jackets in the ranks, a reason why many personnel are finding it difficult to defend themselves against the enemy. Effectively, this means security forces are not only combating Maoists and terrorists, they are also combating red tape.
According to the ministry of home affair's (MHA), of the 2,09,700 jackets sanctioned to them, the paramilitary is yet to receive around 87,000.
Even though the government had initiated the process of procuring 59,000 jackets in July last, test results were cancelled after it was found that the chief scientist of the Terminal Ballistic Research Laboratory had purposely vitiated the entire testing process.
"It is expected that the order for bulletproof jackets would be issued within this month and the supplies would be received in a staggered manner over the next eight months," said Mullappally Ramchandran, the minister of state in the home ministry.
In the entire paramilitary, the CRPF is the worst affected.
It needs another 40,000 bulletproof jackets for its men. The Central Industrial Security Force is next on the list, with a shortage of 15,127 jackets. The Indo-Tibetan border Police too, is grappling with a shortage of 8,216 jackets.
Shockingly, the National Security Guard, which spearheaded the 26/11 operations in Mumbai, is also short of jackets. The commando force is supposed to have 2,941 jackets, but needs 1,725.
