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| India-Pakistan |
| Indian armed forces short of 14,264 officers |
| 2007-08-20 |
| Calcutta News.Net Monday 20th August, 2007 (IANS) India's armed forces are short of a staggering 14,264 officers - the bulk of them in the army - and several steps are being taken to plug the gap, parliament was informed Monday. The 1.12 million strong Indian Army is short of 11,238 officers against its sanctioned strength of 46,615 officers, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. The Indian Air Force (IAF) faces a shortfall of 1,565 officers against its authorised strength of 12,128 while the Indian Navy is short of 1,461 officers against a sanctioned strength of 8,797. During the past four years, 2,664 army officers had sought early retirement of which 1,496 applications had been approved, the minister said. In the case of the air force, 565 discharge applications had been approved against 1,026 applications received while the figures for the navy was 637/807. Detailing the steps taken to fill the vacant posts, the minister said all officers, including those holding short service commissions, were now eligible to hold the substantive ranks of captain, major and lieutenant colonel after two, six and 13 years of service respectively. Time scale promotion to colonel and equivalent ranks after 26 years of service had also been introduced, while the tenure of short service commission officers had been extended from 10 to 14 years. 'The armed forces have undertaken a sustained image promotion and publicity campaign to create awareness among the youth on the advantages of taking up a challenging and satisfying career,' Antony said. 'Candidate-friendly recruitment procedures to attract more candidates and a focussed publicity drive in various institutions to attract potential candidates have been undertaken,' he added. Awareness campaigns, participation in career fairs and exhibitions, advertisements in the print and electronic media, and motivational lectures in schools and colleges are some of the other measures taken, the minister stated. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #2 Fred.... I wonder if the Mess Havildar's Garam Masala and Chai tea could ever become spousal favorites? What's another PCS! Post the Colours, we're in! |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-08-20 12:08 |
| #1 Perhaps they can make better money manning the help desks? |
| Posted by: BrerRabbit 2007-08-20 12:02 |