Old hoax about UPA involved in scam related to procurement of army boots revived - Alt News
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11th March 2021 / 5:13 pm / Last updated: 12th March 2021
In the first week of March, several social media users posted a long message alleging that Congress-led United Progressive Alliance procured military shoes that cost ₹25000 per pair from Israel. As per the claim, the shoes were exported to Israel by a Jaipur-based manufacturer and their cost was ₹2200 per pair. But India used to buy the shoes from Israel and not directly from the Indian company. Former Defence Minister late Manohar Parrikar, who held the office from October 2014 to March 2017, spotted this transaction, the claim adds.
Twitter users @JatinMakol and @MJ_007Club shared the message in a tweet thread, garnering 10,000 retweets cumulatively.
A shoe manufacturing company based in Jaipur makes shoes for Indian Army. But instead of selling it directly it used to export it to Israel. From where Indian Army purchase at about 10 times higher cost….. This practice was going on for decades. (1/5) pic.twitter.com/Szqtl9ho3g
— Jatin Makol (@JatinMakol) March 5, 2021
Several Facebook and Twitter users also made this claim.
This hoax dates back to 2016. In 2017, ABP News debunked had the claim.
ABP News reporter Neeraj Rajput visited Bengaluru’s engineering regiment and found that the Indian Army has six types of shoes. Out of which only two — anti-mines shoes and Siachen boots — were exported.
In 2017, the Defence Ministry and government sources told ABP that the claim made in the viral message is baseless.
Gagan Chaturvedi, Dy. Director-General / Corporate Communications told Alt News that the Indian Army has seven types of non-specialised footwear:
Chaturvedi added, “As per orders, OFB currently indents ‘Boot High Ankle DVS’ (view OFB catalogue) to the Indian Army. In the past, OFB has manufactured other boots. The boot in the viral image is not an OFB product.”
The boots in the viral image carry the text ‘Para Commando by Weather Proof Dehradun’. We compared it with the boot in the OFB catalogue and found that both are high ankle boots and look similar. Col Rajendra Bhaduri (Retd) told Alt News, “All high-ankle boots are similar except for their shoe sole type. For over a decade or so, a large number of indigenous manufactures have started manufacturing military equipment like shoes and belts. As a result, there might be multiple variations, with slight differences of these products including high ankle boots which are available in the market now.”
In 2016, The Times of India reported that Israel-based Noga Einat partnered with Kanpur-based Rahman Industries to manufacture military boots. As per Noga Einat’s website, the company is a major supplier to the Israel Defense Forces and has been in the business for seven decades. The website further states, “The company collaborates with the best manufactures in India.” The readers should note that it doesn’t supply shoes to the Indian Army.
To conclude, a five-year-old hoax that claimed UPA-government was involved in a scam related to Indian Army boots was revived. It was debunked in 2017 by ABP News, yet it continues to surface on the internet. Alt News independently authenticated that this claim is false. In December 2020, Alt News debunked a similar claim that alleged India used to import cloth for defence uniforms from countries like China.
The complete viral text can be read below:
A shoe manufacturing company based in Jaipur makes shoes for Indian Army. But instead of selling it directly it used to export it to Israel. From where Indian Army purchase at about 10 times higher cost….. This practice was going on for decades. When the then Def Minister Manohar Parrikar got to know of this he immediately called the CEO of that company, who revealed that earlier he used to sell it directly to Army but hefty “Cut” was demanded at each stage from tendering, approving samples, placing order, quality check, payment process and final payment… Which would take several months besides huge corruption money. So he started exporting it to an Israeli company. Mr Parrikar asked him to sell it directly again and assured that even if there is a single day delay or demand for cut at any stage just call him… As a result today we are getting same shoes for soldiers at ₹2200/ which UPA govt was buying at ₹25000+ per pair. No wonder desperate Congress would say Chowkidar Chor hai… Don’t believe me… File an RTI to know the truth. Nation is missing you Hon.
@manoharparrikar ji
🙏 Blessed to have worked as a fact-checking journalist from November 2019 to February 2023.
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