Parliament: Over 1,35,000 Vacancies in Army, IAF, Navy; Only 46,000 Posts Advertised in 2022
Representational image. | Image courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
New Delhi: There are a total of 1,35, 891 vacancies in the three Armed Forces wings – Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Indian Navy, the government has informed Parliament.
The total number of over a lakh vacancies are the highest in the Indian Army at 118,485, as on July 1, 2022, a total of 11,587 vacancies in the Indian Navy (sailors) as on September 30, 2022 and 5,819 vacancies in the Indian Army, according to a written reply in Lok Sabha by Ajay Bhatt, Minister of State for Defence.
As per the minister, a total of 40,000 vacancies have been advertised for JCOs/OR in the Indian Army, 3,000 vacancies have been advertised for Agniveer in 2022 in Indian Navy, and 3,000 vacancies have been advertised in IAF as Agniveervayu under Agnipath Scheme in the year 2022.
When asked by Deepak Baij, Congress MP from Chhattisgarh’s Bastar how many youths had been recruited so far, the MoS Defence said: “All the recruitments at the level of jawans are being done under the Agnipath Scheme presently under progress…”
Low Women’s Participation in Defence
In reply to another question on the recruitment of women as officers in defence sector, Bhatt said they made up for 3.7% of officers (excluding AMC/ADC) in the Army, 21.25% of AMC (Army Medical Corp)/ADC – Aide De Camp (basically medical and assistant) officers, 100% of MNS (military nursing service) officers and 0.01% in the category of JCO/OR, as on July 1, 2022.
In the Indian Navy, about 6% women were part of the personnel, while in the IAF 13.69% were officers (excluding the dental branch), as on December 1, 2022.
When asked if the government had done any survey of low participation of women in the defence sector, the MoS Defence said: “No study has been undertaken regarding the low participation of women as there has been a steady growth in the induction of women in the armed forces.”
However, he pointed out that in the Indian Navy, with effect from this year, was recruiting women as sailors under the Agnipath Scheme and 20% posts had been reserved for them.
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