Govt asking soldiers to buy own clothes, shoes: Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday lashed out at the Central government for making “empty slogans” and accused it of asking soldiers to buy their own clothes and shoes.

Attaching a media report, which also claimed the Army is seeking to cut 50 per cent supply from state-run ordnance factories, to back his charge, Mr Gandhi tweeted, “MAKE (empty slogans and useless acronyms) IN INDIA... Meanwhile, make our soldiers buy their own clothes and shoes.”

Mr Gandhi has been attacking the government for not taking care of the interests of the armed forces. The Congress has been demanding that proper importance should be given to the armed forces. The party has been alleging that certain private parties have been benefiting by the policies of the current government. It has also challenged the government to make public the amount spent on acquiring Rafael fighter jets per piece.

The media report that was attached by Mr Gandhi claimed that the Indian Army has decided to cut down its supplies from state-owned ordnance factories. The report also claimed that the money saved instead would be spent on procuring adequate stock of critical ammunition and spare parts. The report further added that the supplies such as clothing combat dress, berets, belts, shoes to soldiers will be hit due to the move and soldiers will have to spend their own money to buy uniforms and other clothes from civilian markets.

However, the claims were rejected by defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, saying that the media report is inaccurate and there is no paucity of funds for the armed forces