The details of strength of Officers in the three Armed Forces (excluding medical and dental), force-wise are as under:-

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.  Further, Government has taken various steps to make armed forces’ jobs attractive including improvement in promotion prospects in the Armed Forces.

To attract youth including the rural youth to join the Armed Forces various steps are taken such as giving wide publicity to recruitment in Armed Forces through advertisement in print & audio-visual media.  Recruitment of Personnel Below Officers Ranks (PBORs) in Army is carried out through Open Rally System being conducted regularly throughout the country.  Efforts are made to cover the entire country including remote and tribal areas.  In Navy, regular recruitment drives are undertaken, covering all States / Regions for recruitment of sailors.  Recruitment of Airmen in Air Force is on all India basis through scheduled selection tests.  In addition, recruitment rallies are also conducted in different parts of the country including tribal areas.

This information was given by Raksha Rajya Mantri Dr. Subhash Bhamre in a written reply to Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal “Nishank” in Lok Sabha today.

NAo/Nampi/Rajib/HS