Armed Forces short of more than 9,000 officers

India's three armed services are short of over 9,000 officers and 55,000 personnel in other ranks, Parliament was told on Friday.

According to the data tabled in the Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre, the Indian Army -- the largest of the three Services -- had on July 1 last year vacancies for 8,370 officers and 35,174 other ranks, followed by the Indian Navy, which had vacancies for 1,332 officers and 10,982 sailors on September 30.

The Indian Air Force had shortage of 29 officers on August 1 and 9,841 airmen on November 1.

The tabled data does not included the officers of the services' medical and dental branches.

"A number of measures have also been taken to meet the shortage of manpower in the Armed Forces including by sustained image projection, publicity campaign to create awareness among the youth," Bhamre told the house in a written reply.

"Force accretion of armed forces is an ongoing process dictated primarily by capabilities to be achieved and threat perception. Accordingly, Government has sanctioned a number of proposals for accretion of manpower in the recent years," he said.

--IANS

rs/vd