Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik informed the Rajya Sabha on Monday, 1 July 2019, that a total of 78,291 positions are vacant in the Indian Armed Forces, as per the official notification issued by the Ministry of Defence.
There are posts vacant for the Officers as well as for the Personnel Below Officers Rank Posts (PBOR)/Airmen/Sailors in the three Armed Forces. Find the details about the same below.
Strength & Shortage of Officers Across the Indian Armed Forces
Below mentioned are the force-wise details of the strength and shortage of officers across the Indian Armed Forces. This excludes AMC, ADC and MNS. Of the total authorsied strength of around 77,500 officer posts over 9,400 posts lie vacant.
- The Indian Army
As of 1 January 2019, The Indian Army has an authorised strength of 50,312 officers. Of which 42,913 positions are occupied and there is a shortage of officers on 7,399 posts.
- The Indian Navy
Indian Navy has the authorised strength of 11,557 posts of officers as on 31 May 2019. 10,012 posts of these are occupied and there is a shortage of 1,545 officers.
- The Indian Air Force
In the case of Indian Air Force, as on 1 June 2019, the authorised strength is of 12,625 officers. 12,142 posts are occupied and there is a shortage of 483 officers.
Strength & Shortage of Personnel Below Officers Rank (PBOR)/Airmen/Sailors Posts
Of the total authorised strength of personnel below officer rank of over 14 lakh posts currently almost 70,000 positions lie vacant.
- The Indian Army
There are seats vacant for multiple Personnel Below Officers Rank (PBOR)/Airmen/Sailors posts in the three armed forces. As per the official release, the authorised strength for personnel below officer roles in the Indian Army, as of 1 January 2019 is 12,23,381.
The number of occupied posts is 11,85,146 excluding 1,718 APS Non-regular JCOs/OR and there is a shortage of 38,235 personnel below officer roles.
- The Indian Navy
In Indian Navy, the authorised strength is 74,046, as of 31 May 2019. The number of occupied seats is 57,240 and there is a shortage of 16,806 personnel below officer roles.
- The Indian Air Force
As of 1 June 2019, the authorised strength in Air Force is 1,42,917. A total of 1,29,094 posts are occupied and 13,823 posts for personnel below officer roles are vacant. 10,486 ab-initio trainees are being trained at different training Institutes.
Why The Shortage of Personnel?
As per the ministry, the shortage of personnel in the armed forces is due to a number of reasons- retirements, pre-mature retirements and attrition due to casualties and injuries. Several measures have been taken by the government to reduce the shortages including sustained image projection, participation in career fairs and exhibitions. The government is also trying to create awareness among the youth about the advantages of taking up a challenging and satisfying career.
Several steps also have been taken to make career in the armed forces more attractive. These include improving promotion prospects, making pay package more attractive, better compensation for risk & hardships, etc.
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