As many as 90,000 positions for soldiers in the Indian Army, including junior commissioned officers, are currently lying vacant while there is a shortage of over 7,900 officers, the government said in Rajya Sabha on Monday.
In a written reply, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said that the Indian Navy stands second in terms of manpower shortage and it currently has 1,190 vacancies for officers and 11,927 sailors. Navy is considered third in terms of size among all three defence forces.
Bhatt told the Upper House of the Parliament that at present, the Army is short of 7,912 officers and 90,640 soldiers in its ranks, adding that efforts are being made to fill up these vacancies.
Informing about the Indian Air Force, Bhatt said, “The IAF was short of 610 officers and 7,104 men in its ranks.”
Bhatt said that the government has taken a number of measures to reduce the shortages.
“These, inter-alia, 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,” added Bhatt.
To encourage the youth to join the Armed Forces, motivational lectures are regularly organized in schools/colleges/other educational institutes and National Cadet Corps (NCC) camps, he further said.
According to the Defence Ministry, the government has taken various steps to make the job in the Armed Forces attractive including improvement in promotion prospects in the Armed Forces and to fill up vacancies.
Source: dnaindia.com