HYDERABAD: Army personnel, both retired and serving, awarded for their service are forced to buy replicas of the medals from private shops as the Army takes several years to deliver the originals.The replicas, which are called “tailor copies”, can be bought for as low as Rs 40 to Rs 180 from private outlets at Lal Bazar, Regimental Bazar, Mehdipatnam and Golconda in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.Defence ministry sources in Delhi confirmed that the backlog of non-gallantry medals runs as far back as 10 years.A TOI investigation has revealed that one would have to shell out as less as Rs 2,500 for a complete uniform with all the medals, complete with the badges. Except for the gallantry awards, a ‘tailor copy’ of practically every medal is up for sale. However, gallantry medals, which have the name and Army number of the recipient engraved on them, cannot be bought from a private shop.“Yes, I bought nine out of 10 medals from private shops,” admits Mohammed Rafee, who put in 24 years of service in the Army. Rafee was awarded 10 medals but was given only one by the Army. He joined the Army as a sepoy when he was 17 and a half years old. He rose through the ranks by virtue of the number of years that he put in and finally retired as havildar.“I should have got my medals at the time they were to be given to me,” Rafee says. Among the medals that he was awarded were the ones for nine years of service, 20 years of service, serving in Jammu and Kashmir , and for serving at high altitude and other places.Former Army personnel say lack of coordination among various wings of the Army is the reason why medals are not reaching recipients on time. “The Army Postal Services should deliver the medal to the personnel wherever they are. One problem could be tracing a person if he has been transferred,” Rafee says.The market for medals also poses a grave security threat, with the tailor copies available for sale to any willing buyer. This reporter was able to buy several ‘tailor copies’ not produced by the government mint. The shops also sell badges that are to be pinned to the Army uniform.This reporter could even buy the replica of a medal given for participating in the Kargil war, codenamed Operation Vijay; the Samanya Seva medal, for designated operations; and the Uchh Tungta medal, for serving at high altitude. All the three medals came with the appropriate ribbons.The director of Sainik Welfare, Colonel P Ramesh Kumar (Retd), admitted that there was delay in giving recipients their medal after their names were entered in the records. “But some who may not want to wait might go and buy the medals from privately owned shops,” he says. Col Kumar adds that those Armymen who buy the medals from outside are not really committing a ‘fraud’ as they would be buying them by virtue of being recipients.Jagan Pillarisetti of `Bharat Rakshak, a ‘consortium’ of Indian military websites, said wearing medals was a matter of pride for a soldier. “Medals indicate the government’s recognition of specific acts of gallantry, or operational service, or general service, or simply the posting of a soldier to various difficult sectors in difficult times,” said Pillarisetti.