Military personnel are long used to buying duplicate medals from the market because the government has not been providing them original ones. Their wait for genuine service medals has just got a bit longer with a tender for procuring them cancelled midway.
Officials say the the Department of Medals under the Defence Ministry responsible for issuing various kinds of medals, has now put forward a new proposal.
“The tender was withdrawn a few months ago, and now the Department of Medals has proposed that the responsibility of issuing service medals be transferred to the Service Headquarters while it retains the function of issuing gallantry and distinguished service medals,” a defence source told The Hindu .
A tiny fraction
The proposal is now awaiting a decision by the Ministry. However, several military officers say it was not for the Service Headquarters to get into the issue. “Of the total medals issued every year, gallantry and distinguished service medals constitute only 1% to 2%. Service medals account for over 98%. They are trying to get away from their responsibility. Service Headquarters do not have the wherewithal to deal with it,” an officer said. “What will the Department do then,” another officer asked.
On January 3, The Hindu reported that the Department of Medals has not provided any medals since 2008 except for gallantry and distinguished service medals presented by the President.
Apart from these, there are various Service medals issued during the course of duty of a soldier. Following this, the Defence Minister at the time, Manohar Parrikar, sought to fast-track procurement of medals.
