Strength of Officers and soldiers in all three Wings of Defence Forces

Defence Minister furnishes Strength of Officers and soldiers in all three Wings of Defence Forces to Lok Sabha

The details of authorised strength and held strength of officers and soldiers in all three Wings of Defence Forces are as under:-
Officers:

Soldiers:

* Presently 87322 recruits are under training against this deficiency.

** Presently 8792 trainees are under  training against this deficiency.

Some of the major reasons for shortage in Armed Forces include increase in authorized strength due to new accretions of posts from time to time, availability of other attractive career avenues, stringent selection criteria coupled with perceived high degree of risk.

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, Government has taken various steps to make armed forces’ jobs attractive. These include implementation of recommendations of the Central Pay Commissions with improved pay structure, additional family accommodation through Married Accommodation Project (MAP) and improvement in promotion prospects in the Armed Forces.

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