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NEW DELHI: Indian armed forces are grappling with a shortage of 9,093 officers, with the major deficiency being in the “fighting or non-select ranks” of Lt-Colonels (Commander in Navy and Wing Commander in IAF) and below despite advertising campaigns.

The 13-lakh strong Army is short of 7,298 officers from an authorized strength of 49,933, while the shortages in Navy and IAF stand at 1,606 (authorized 11,352) and 192 (authorized 12,584), minister of state for defence Subhash Bhamre told Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

“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,” he said.

“Further, the government has taken various steps to make jobs in the armed forces attractive including improvement in promotion prospects,” he added, in a written reply.

But the fact remains that not many youngsters with requisite “officer-like qualities” are coming forward to join the armed forces despite salaries and pensions registering a major hike after implementation of the 7th Central Pay Commission.

The reasons range from the perceived high degree of risk in military careers, whether it is battling militants or being posted in far-flung areas, frequent disruptions in family life and education of children, and poor promotional avenues in the steeply-pyramidal structures of the armed forces.

The lack of adequate training capacity for officers is also a factor, even though the Army, Navy and IAF have all enhanced infrastructure in their academies. Apart from the tri-Service National Defence Academy at Kadakwasla, for instance, the Army now has the Officers’ Training Academy (OTA) at Gaya to add to the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun and OTA at Chennai.

But the armed forces remain reluctant to induct women officers in larger numbers, even though they are now given permanent commission in some select branches after years of legal battle. There are just about 1,560 women officers in Army, 1,610 in IAF and 490 in Navy despite them being inducted in the armed forces since 1992-93.

