Army could take 20 yrs to bridge officer shortage

Bogged down by shortage of 11,500 officers due to low intake at military academies and a high rate of premature retirements, the army has indicated to its leadership that it will take 20 years of best efforts to fill up the vacancies.

In an internal study, the army has said the projection was conditional and the vacancies could be filled up in two decades only if training capacities in the academies are increased and the exit rate of officers wanting to retire prematurely is kept low.

On the basis of the study, the army headquarters has suggested to the commanders that the intake of recruits at the Dehradun-based Indian Military Academy (IMA) and the Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai be increased by improving training capacities of the two institutes, an officer told PTI here.