SOURCE: UNI
The Indian Army is a force of 12 lakh 48 thousand. At present, there is a shortage of more than one lakh soldiers in this army. At a time when the army is on alert at the Line of Control (LOC) with Pakistan, more than 50 thousand soldiers are continuously deployed on the China border i.e. Line of Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh for the last five years. There is no plan to reduce the number of soldiers from here. Last year, when terrorist incidents increased in Jammu, 15 thousand additional soldiers were deployed there.
The army, which is facing a shortage of one lakh soldiers, is fulfilling its needs by shifting soldiers from one place to another. The Defense Ministry told the Standing Committee of Parliament that the current number of officers (excluding Medical Corps, Dental Corps and Military Nursing Service) in the Indian Army (as on 1 July 2024) is 42095, while the authorized strength is 50538.
Thus, there is a shortage of 16.71 percent officers in the army. Similarly, the number of Junior Commissioned Officers and soldiers in the army (as on 1 October 2024) is 1105110. While the authorized strength is 1197520. That is, there is a shortage of 92410 (7.72 percent) soldiers in the army.
The Defense Ministry said that as the Agneepath scheme progresses, the shortage of soldiers will be met. Similarly, regarding the shortage of officers, it was told that several steps have been taken to fill the vacancies of officers. The ministry said that the selection process has also been reformed.
According to sources, Service Selection Centers have recently taken several new steps. Candidates are reminded about their SSB dates through various means so that no one misses the date. If a candidate misses a chance due to any reason, he is also given a second chance. There are more vacancies for short service but the batches were less. Now the number of batches has been more than doubled. Due to which the ratio of candidates getting selected among the candidates coming has increased. Also, where earlier the documentation used to take more time, now the option of uploading the document first along with the form is being given. This is still under process. Similarly, where medical used to take 8-10 days, now it is being done in 2 to 3 days.
Due to Covid, there was no recruitment of soldiers for two years. Whereas 60 thousand soldiers retired every year and about 1 lakh 20 thousand soldiers retired in the two years of Covid. Then from 2022, Agniveer was recruited under the Agneepath scheme and 40-40 thousand Agniveers were recruited both in the first and second year. The use of technology has increased in the army but after the terrorist attacks in Jammu last year, the question arose whether technology can make up for the shortage of soldiers. 50 thousand soldiers are stationed there since the tension increased on the LAC in Eastern Ladakh. Many soldiers were removed from Jammu and sent there. In the places where the number of soldiers was reduced, terrorists are getting a chance to flourish again.