The three armed forces are facing a shortage of about 1.55 lakh personnel, with the Army having the highest number of 1.36 lakh vacancies, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Monday.
In a written reply, Minister of State for Defense Ajay Bhatt said the shortage of personnel and mitigation measures of the armed forces are regularly reviewed and a number of measures have been initiated to fill vacancies and encourage youth to join the services. have been done.
Bhatt said that there is a shortage of 8,129 officers in the Indian Army which includes the Army Medical Corps and the Army Dental Corps.
There are 509 vacancies in Military Nursing Service (MNS) and 1,27,673 vacancies for JCO and other ranks. The minister said that among the civilians employed by the Army, Group A has 252 vacancies, Group B has 2,549 vacancies, and Group C has 35,368 vacancies.
The Navy has a shortfall of 12,428 personnel. In his reply, the minister said there is a shortage of 1,653 officers, 29 medical and dental officers and 10,746 sailors.
Among civilian employees, there is a shortfall of 165 in Group A, 4,207 in Group B and 6,156 in Group C.
There is a shortage of 7,031 personnel in the Indian Air Force. There is also a shortage of 721 officers, 16 medical officers, 4,734 airmen and 113 airmen of the medical assistant trade, he added.
Among working citizens, there is a shortage of 22 in Group A, 1303 in Group B and 5531 in Group C.
Bhatt said, “The shortage of personnel and mitigation measures of the Armed Forces are regularly reviewed by the Armed Forces and based on detailed analysis. Several measures to fill vacancies and encourage youth to join the services have been started.”
These include emphasis on better image projection and publicity in audio, visual, print, internet, social media, organization of career fairs, exhibitions, motivational lectures in schools and colleges, examination of computer based online application filling, websites of services to facilitate improvements are included. The Minister said that among others the implementation of a robust recruitment management system.
Bhatt said that candidate-friendly recruitment process, grant of permanent commission to Short Service Commission officers for both men and women, entry of women through NDA, and creation of necessary infrastructure will encourage youth to join the services. There are some other steps taken for