• Indian armed forces need to take this seriously

The number of posts lying vacant in the Armed Forces are as under:

ServiceVacant Posts
OfficersJCOs/ORs/Airmen/Sailors
Indian Army 7476(including AMC/ADC/MNS)97177
Indian Air Force6214850
Indian Navy126511166

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 in the Armed Forces.

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.

Further, the Government has taken various steps to make the service in the Armed Forces more attractive including improvement in promotion prospects in the Armed Forces and to fill up vacancies.

As per the Government policy on the subject, all citizens irrespective of their caste, creed, region or religion are eligible for enrolment in the Indian Army. After Independence, it has been the policy of the Government not to raise any new regiment for a particular class/ community/ religion or region.The deficiency is spread across all Arms and Services of the Indian Army.