New Delhi, July 18: In a bid to meet the dearth of officers in armed forces, the Defence Ministry has suggested to all the three services a "one-time waiver" in Quality Requirements (QR) on recruitment besides taking a fresh look on premature retirements of its personnel.
In a letter to the Army, IAF and Indian Navy, a senior Defence Ministry official of the rank of Special Secretary has suggested that the "services may consider the feasibility of conducting a special drive to fill up the vacancies by giving a one-time dispensation in the QRs."
The total number of vacancies in the armed forces is more than 13,000.
While pointing out that the rejection of candidates at Service Selection Board was 95 per cent, the letter said there was no dearth of applicants to serve in the armed forces.
"As a matter of fact there is an overwhelming response to all the entries for which recruitment is open to the general public.
"It is pointed out time and again by the Services that large number of these candidates do not meet the QR," the letter said and asked whether the armed forces had "any action plan to revisit their parameters of QRs."
The letter also pointed out that a large number of officers were granted premature retirement on some ground or the other -- a practice which needed to be reviewed.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, July 18, 2008, 00:00