New Delhi, August 1, 2018: At least 9726 posts of Officers are lying vacant in Armed Forces with the highest number being in Army, where as many as 7,298 positions of Officers are yet to be filled.
There is a shortage of 9,726 Officers in the Armed Forces – Army, Navy and Air Force- as on July 1, 2018, out of a sanctioned strength of 73,869 personnel, Defence Minister (MoS) Dr Subhash Bhamre informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
At present, 42,635 Officers are working in the Army against the sanctioned strength of 49,933, while 9,746 Officers are working the Navy against the sanctioned strength of 11,352. As many as 12,392 Officers are there in the Air Force against the sanctioned strength of 12,584.
So there is shortage of 7298 Officers in Army, 1606 in Navy and 192 in Air Force, respectively.
This excludes medical and dental Officers.
“The Government has taken a number of measures to reduce the shortages. These include sustained image projection, participation in career fairs and exhibitions and publicity campaign to create awareness among the youth on the advantages of taking up a challenging and satisfying career. Further, Government has taken various steps to make armed forces’ jobs attractive including improvement in promotion prospects in the Armed Forces,” said the Minister.
To attract youth including the rural youth to join the Armed Forces various steps are taken such as giving wide publicity to recruitment in Armed Forces through advertisement in print and audio-visual media, informed the Minister.
The Minister further informed that recruitment of Personnel Below Officers Ranks (PBORs) in Army is carried out through Open Rally System being conducted regularly throughout the country.
“Efforts are made to cover the entire country including remote and tribal areas. In Navy, regular recruitment drives are undertaken, covering all States/Regions for recruitment of sailors. Recruitment of Airmen in Air Force is on all India basis through scheduled selection tests. In addition, recruitment rallies are also conducted in different parts of the country including tribal areas,” added Minister Bhamre.
