All Three Services Facing Shortage Of 1.35 Lakh Personnel: Govt

The three services are facing a 1.35 lakh personnel shortage, with the Army having the most vacancies at 1.18 lakh, according to information provided by the government in Lok Sabha on Friday.

The total shortage of sailors in the Indian Navy was estimated at 11,587 as of 30 September, according to Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt in response to a question.

He said that the Indian Air Force (Airmen and Non-Combatants) had 5,819 vacant positions as of 1 November 2022.

The army's total strength was until 1 July and it included junior commissioned officers and other ranks.

The Indian Army has advertised a total of 40000 vacancies for JCOs/OR. In the Indian Navy, 3,000 vacancies for Agniveers have been advertised for the year 2022. According to Bhatt, 3,000 vacancies in the Indian Air Force as Agniveer (Vayu) have been advertised for the year 2022.

He said that all jawan recruitments are done through the Agnipath scheme.

Noting that 60,000 vacancies occur in all three services on average each year, with approximately 50,000 vacancies for the Army, the minister said that due to the suspension of recruitment rallies in the last two years due to the Covid-19 situation, the Indian Army currently has a shortfall of 1,08,685 jawans.

He added that these vacancies are expected to decrease in the coming years as the Covid-19 situation improves and recruitment begins.

In response to a separate question, he said that approximately 45,906 acres of defence land under the management of various services and organisations within the defence ministry are currently vacant.

In response to another question, Bhatt said that the government is modernising the defence airfield infrastructure in two stages.

He said that the budgetary allocation for modernising airfields in phase I was Rs 1,215.35 crore and Rs 1,187.17 crore in phase II.

Bhatt also said that the Modernisation of Air Field Infrastructure (MAFI) (phase-I) project was completed for 30 Indian Air Force airfields.

He added that the MAFI (phase-II) for the modernization of an additional 37 airfields is currently underway.