No manpower shortage in armed forces, govt expediting filling vacancies: MoS Nityanand

Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on Wednesday told the Rajya Sabha that there is no "acute shortage" of manpower in the armed forces and that the central government is taking expeditious steps to fill the vacancies.

Rai was responding to a question raised in this regard in the upper house of the Parliament.

"Government has taken expeditious steps to fill up the vacancies in Central Armed Police forces (CAPFs) including the posts created. This is a continuous process. In the year 2017, 57,268 vacancies of constable (general duty) for the recruitment cycle 2015-16 have been filled through recruitment by Staff Selection Commission (SSC)," Rai told the house in a written response.

A question was raised in the Rajya Sabha whether there is an acute shortage of manpower in the armed forces and if so, what steps is the government taking to fill up the vacancies.

"There exists a well-established procedure to fill up vacancies. The vacancies are filled up by various modes like direct recruitment, promotion and by deputation as per the extant provisions of recruitment rules," Rai said.

The total sanctioned strength of the CAPFs is over 9.99 lakh and on average around 10 percent vacancies arise in different grades every year, he said.

"Notification for Assistant Commandant (GD) Exam, 2019 has since been published for filling up of 323 vacancies. The written examination is to be held on Aug 18, 2019. In addition, promotional vacancies at various levels as provided in recruitment rules are filled up regularly by forces themselves at their end following due procedure," he added.