Indianmandarins had had underlined the importance of the matter in its report dated 06 Jan 2017 (Web-link below) and the government too has finally woken up to procure 7.60 lakh medals for military personnel. May it be recalled that the UPA regime initiated the pernicious practice of making soldiers buy cheap replicas to adorn their uniforms from the market. Though much-delayed, the move to procure the 7.60 lakh medals for about  Rs 28 crore is a welcome step. As of December 31 last year, there was a staggering backlog of 16.82 lakh service medals, which were awarded to deserving personnel from the Army, Navy, and IAF but never actually presented to them. Consequently, military personnel were constrained to buying replicas or "tailor copies" from private shops. The defense ministry (MoD) now says there are two separate proposals for procurement of 7.60 lakh and 9.89 lakh medals in the pipeline to clear the backlog for the almost 15-lakh strong armed forces. The tender for the first procurement of 7.60 lakh medals was issued by the MoD's Directorate of Military Regulations and Forms on Monday. WEB-LINK:  More reprehensible than reprehensible could be (06 January 2017) http://www.indianmandarins.com/more-reprehensible-than-reprehensible-could-be/