Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 2^nd march spoke at the India Today Conclave. Modi addressed several situations of the country mainly regarding the country’s defence system. One of the very notable claims he made was that not a single bulletproof jacket was procured during the UPA-2 rule from 2009-2014. Addressing this issue, Modi accused the opposition of lack of consideration and modernisation for the Defence Infrastructure. He said that “It is common knowledge that one of the things our armed forces regularly need is bulletproof jackets. Between 2009 and 2014 not a single bulletproof jacket was procured. From 2014, 2,30,000 bulletproof jackets were bought. Corridors of power are free from middlemen because this govt will never tolerate any corruption”. His speech can be seen here:

Rajdeep Sardesai on Twitter claimed that had placed the order of Bulletproof Jackets in April 2018 and the delivery is expected from April 2019.

Another Twitter user accused PM Modi of lying. The user replied to the tweet of BJP:

Another LIE of Modi & his chatukaar team .... Modi did nothing for BPJ in 3 years and signed the deal with Indian vendor last year April 2018 and the Bullet proof jackets will be started delivering after April 2019 ... see this Not a single Jacket brought he talks 2.3 Lakhs

To substantiate his claim he included the screenshot of a press release by the ministry of defence on 7th Jan which states that a contract has been signed to procure 1,86,138 Bullet Proof Jackets whose delivery will start from April 2019.

No bulletproof jackets were acquired by the Army during the UPA-2 regime?

The strong claim of the PM was verified by Fact Hunt and it is indeed right. A very clear report of the situation is given by the Press Information Bureau which can be accessed here. Their report states that the information was given to them by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Shri Dilipbhai Pandya in Rajya Sabha on November 22, 2016. According to this report, the Defence Acquisition Council ( DOC ) had accorded Acceptance of Necessity ( AoN ) for procurement of 3,53,765 bulletproof jackets ( BPJ ) in October 2009. 1,86,138 of them were to be procured in the 11^th army plan. A Request for Proposal ( REP ) was issued on 3rd March 2011 but it was taken back on 8th Dec 2011 because of issues regarding the conduction of trials. An RFP was again issued on 7th Dec 2012 but none of the bulletproof jackets made through the qualifications issued by the RFP. Thus, it was again retracted on 5th Oct 2015. A fresh RFP was again issued on 4th April 2016 and technical evaluation and trials are to be scheduled by the Army Headquarters. However, for immediate requirement of 50,000 bulletproof jackets was placed on 31st March 2016 out of which the first 5000 have been delivered on 15th Oct 2016. Thus, it can be seen that no bulletproof jackets were acquired by the Army during the UPA-2 regime.

Another proof for Modi’s claim can be seen in the reply of then Defence Minister AK Antony of UPA-2 in the Lok Sabha during 2013,

Thus, it is proven that no bulletproof jackets were acquired during the UPA rule.

Let us see the issues that were faced with the trials. The delay in providing the bulletproof jackets was because of the fact that only 1 in 4 bulletproof jacket types made through the first round of withstanding 30 armour piercing bullets. But this one also failed to proceed into further trials because it failed to replicate typical wear and tear in real life conditions. One of the vendors mentioned that the Army applied NIJ Level 4 specifications and used ‘strange methodologies’ for the selection process. A detailed report regarding the procedure of trials, requirements, shortlisting vendors and opinions of professionals regarding this issue is given by NDTV which can be accessed here.

Were 2,30,000 bulletproof jackets bought by Modi Government?

Immediate requirement of 50,000 bulletproof jackets was placed on 31st March 2016 out of which the first 5000 have been delivered on 15th Oct 2016 as per a press release by the Defense Ministry.

As per another press release, a contract has already been signed to procure 1,86,138 Bullet Proof Jackets whose delivery will start from April 2019.

Hence, PM Modi's claim that 2.3 lakh bulletproof jackets have been bought since 2014 is correct.

The procurement of the bulletproof jackets was also confirmed by Minister of state in the Ministry of defence Subhash Bhamre on 19th Dec 2018 in Lok Sabha.

Therefore, all these proofs support Modi’s claim about no bulletproof jackets being acquired during the UPA 2 rule and also proves that the bulletproof jackets were procured during the NDA rule.