NEW DELHI – Indian Army Uniforms, Ranks and Badges to be changed, Indianmedia has reported.
Indian Army personnel may soon be seen in an all-new uniform with theDefence Ministry reportedly mulling the prospect of customising thewearable gear based on weather conditions in different parts of the country.
Zee News has learnt from highly-placed sources in the Defence Ministry thatthe Indian Army’s uniform may soon be changed to primarily adapt to thevaried weather extremities of India.
The current uniform has terrycot fibre as its main component and these arenot best suited for hot and humid conditions. These had replaced the cottonuniforms in use because the Indian Army had said cotton uniforms are noteasy to maintain.
Now, a change in uniform is likely to take all these factors intoconsideration as well as meet with the changing nature of contemporarywarfare.
In addition to the change in uniform, it has been learnt that a change inhow the service stripes are displayed is also being looked into. Currently,the stripes – denoting rank – are placed on the shoulders but these may bemoved to where the front buttons are on the uniform. Several armies aroundthe world display the service stripes in this manner.
In addition to these changes, belts worn on the outside of uniforms may bemoved to the inside to make the soldier more comfortable and appearsmarter. Also, the colour of the shirt and the trousers may be different inthe changed uniform.
Sources say that uniforms of different armies around the world are beingstudied – not just for appearance but also for their utility andpracticality.
The uniform of the Indian Army has been changed thrice previously. Thefirst change had taken place in the post-independence years todifferentiate the Indian Army from Pakistani Army.
The Pakistani Army continues to make use of Khadi uniforms. The secondchange in the uniform of the Indian Army took place in 1980 to what iscalled ‘Disruptive Pattern (DP) battle dress.’ This was done because theprevelant uniforms at the time were not as effective when personnel weretrying to blend in with the terrain.
The DP battle dress, however, was made of polyester fabric and was not themost comfortable in hot and humid conditions. In 2005, changes were made tothe DP battle dress, also to differentiate the Indian Army from theuniforms of BSF and CRPF.