Indian Armed Forces: There is a shortage of more than 11,000 officers in the Indian Army, Air Force and Navy. More than half of these vacant posts belong to the Indian Army. According to the Defense Ministry, there is a shortage of officers of the rank of Major and Captain in the army. Indian Air Force is short of important officers like Squadron Leader and Flight Lieutenant. Similarly, there is a shortage of many other officers including officers of the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the Indian Navy. There is a total shortage of 11,266 officers in all the three forces. Regarding these vacant posts, the Ministry of Defense says that there was less recruitment of officers during the Kovid epidemic.
According to the Defense Ministry, the low recruitment of officers during the Corona period is also a major reason for the shortage of Major and Captain and equivalent and other rank officers in the Indian Army, Air Force and Navy. In this context, the Ministry of Defense informed the Parliament in writing that the posts of more than 68 hundred officers are vacant in the Indian Army. There is a shortage of 2,094 Major-level and 4,734 Captain-level officers in the Army.
There are so many vacancies in the Indian Air Force
On the other hand, if we talk about the Indian Air Force, there is a shortage of 881 Squadron Leaders and 940 Flight Lieutenants in the Air Force. This post of officers is very important from the point of view of the Air Force. Like the Army and the Air Force, the Navy too has vacancies for officers. The Navy has a shortage of 2,617 officers of the rank of lieutenant commander and below.
The Ministry of Defense clearly says that less recruitment of officers during the Kovid-19 epidemic has been the main reason for this shortage. According to Minister of State for Defense Ajay Bhatt, there has been an impact on the appointment of officers in all the three forces Air Force, Navy and Army during Corona. Apart from this, the Ministry of Defense says that less recruitment in auxiliary cadres like ‘Short Service Commission’ (SSC) is also responsible for this shortage of officers.
How are officers recruited
Significantly, the recruitment of officers in the armies is done through many mediums. One of them is SSC, where cadets pass out after 11 months of training to become officers and serve in the forces for a fixed tenure of 10 to 14 years. The Defense Ministry says that it is not considering any alternative strategy like re-appointment of officers to these posts to bridge the shortage of officers, but is considering making ‘short service’ entry in the army more attractive.
However, one positive thing amidst all this is that the Ministry of Defense has started recruiting women candidates in the National Defense Academy (NDA) from the year 2022. From the year 2022 till now, 57 women cadets have been recruited through NDA. Haryana is at the forefront in the number of NDA women cadets.
According to the Defense Ministry, all the 57 vacancies of women cadets in NDA have been fully subscribed. Haryana has the maximum number of 19 women cadets. Uttar Pradesh is second after Haryana. A total of 12 women cadets have been recruited from Uttar Pradesh so far. According to the Defense Ministry, three women cadets each have been recruited from Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab and two each from Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir. A total of 4 women cadets from Kerala were recruited in the army through NDA, out of which one resigned.
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