Indian Armed Forces facing a shortage of over 9,000 officers: MOS Defence

India Defence forces are facing a shortage of 9,362 officers and around 1.13 lakh soldiers, airmen and sailors.

New Delhi: The three defence services of India are facing a shortage of 9,362 officers and around 1.13 lakh soldiers, airmen and sailors, according to details provided by the government on Monday.

In response to a question in Rajya Sabha, minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt said that the Army has a shortage of 7,476 officers and 97,177 soldiers including Junior Commissioned Officers.

According to details provided by Bhatt, the Navy has a shortage of 1,265 officers and 11,166 sailors.

In the Indian Air Force, the number of posts of officers lying vacant is 621 while it is 4,850 for airmen.

"It is the endeavour of the government to fill up the vacancies in the armed forces in a systematic and time-bound manner, which is a continuous process," the minister said.

Bhatt said, at present, 53,569 officers and 11,35,799 soldiers are serving the Indian Army.

The number of officers serving in the Navy is 11,100 while the strength of sailors is 63,515, he said.

In the Indian Air Force, the number of officers is 12,048 and while that of airmen is 1,38,792.

To a separate question on whether the Defence Ministry has abandoned the idea of having Republic Day Parade on January 26 in Rajpath because of construction activities, he said, "No".

In response to another question, Bhatt said 37 projects costing Rs 191.19 crore have been awarded to various industries especially MSMEs and startups under Technology Development Fund (TDF)

He said a total fund of Rs 28.51 crore has been released to various Developing Agencies (DA) till date.