Vacancies in Armed Forces

Details of strength of Officers in the three Armed Forces (excluding AMC, ADC and MNS), force-wise, are as under:-

Service Authorised Strength Held Strength Shortage
Army

(As on 01.01.2019)

50312 42913 7399
Navy

(As on 31.05.2019)

11557 10012 1545
Air Force

(As on 01.06.2019)

12625 12142 483

Details of strength of Personnel Below Officers Rank (PBOR)/Airmen/Sailors in the three Armed Forces, force-wise, are as under:

Service Authorised Strength Held Strength Shortage
Army

(As on 01.01.2019)

1223381 1185146* 38235
Navy

(As on 31.05.2019)

74046 57240 16806
Air Force

(As on 01.06.2019)

142917 129094 13823**

            *          Excluding 1718 APS Non-regular JCOs/OR

            **        Additionally, 10,486 ab-initio trainees are undergoing training at various

                           training Institutes.

Vacancies in the Armed Forces are a result of retirements, pre-mature retirements, attrition due to casualties and injuries.  Recruitment in the Armed Forces is a continuous process.  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, various steps have been taken to make career in the Armed Forces more attractive including improvement in promotion prospects, more attractive pay package, better compensation for risk & hardships, additional family accommodation through Married Accommodation Project (MAP) etc.

This information was given by Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Shripad Naik in a written reply to Shri Hishey Lachungpa in Rajya Sabha today.

Nampi/HS