Vacant Posts in Defence Forces

Vacant Posts in Defence Forces

Details of vacant posts of officers and soldiers in the Armed Forces (excluding Medical and Dental Branch), rank wise are as under:

*against this vacancy in the Army 68,331 recruits are under training.
**against this vacancy in the Navy 2247 recruits are under training.
***against this vacancy in the Air Force 6152 recruits are under training.
Some of the major reasons for shortage in Armed Forces include increase in authorized strength due to new accretions in force level from time to time, availability of attractive alternative career avenues, stringent selection criteria, and difficult service conditions coupled with perceived high degree of risk.

Government has taken a number of measures to encourage the youth to join the Armed Forces, including sustained image projection, participation in career fairs and exhibitions, media campaign etc. Further, Government has taken various steps to make armed forces jobs attractive. These include implementation of recommendations of the VI Central Pay Commission with improved pay structure, additional family accommodation through Married Accommodation Project (MAP) and improvement in promotion prospects in the Armed Forces.

Number of officers who have taken premature retirement from the Defence Forces during each of the last three years and the current year are as under:

The Indian Defence Forces are suitably equipped, trained and organized to face the operational challenges and carry out their mandated task. Operational preparedness of the Armed Forces is reviewed from time to time based on the threat perception. Further, development of the combat capabilities of the Armed Forces to tackle the entire spectrum of security challenges is an ongoing process.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Shri MD. Badaruddoza Khan and others in Lok Sabha today.

PIB