Over 7,000 officer vacancies pending in Indian Army: MoS defence in Lok Sabha

Over 7,000 officer posts have been lying vacant in the Indian Army since last year, minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt said in a written response in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

However, the figure dropped from 7,665 on 1 January 2022 to 7,363 on 15 December 2022, Bhatt informed the Parliament.

Replying to Janata Dal (United) MP Ram Nath Thakur, Bhatt noted that there are 511 vacancies in the role of military nursing officers as of December 15, up from 471 as of January 1 last year. The vacancies for the posts of junior commissioned officers/other officers are at 1,18,485 as of December 15, up from the first day of the year at 1,08,685.

In the Indian Navy, vacancies for officers (except medical and dental) went up from 1,557 on 31 December 2021 to 1,653 year-on-year. Vacancies for sailors declined from 11,709 on the last day of 2021 to 10,746 same time last year.

In the air force, throughout 2022, vacancies for officers (except medical and dental) rose from 572 on 1 January 2022 to 761 on 1 December 2022. Vacant posts for airmen fell from 6,227 on the first day of 2022 to 2,340 on the last day.

Vacancies for 1,512 officer posts were filled in 2021 in the Indian Army, followed by 1,285 in 2022.

The process to fill up vacancies for junior commissioned officers in the army, which was halted due to Covid-19 in 2021, resumed to add 19,065 in 2022.

In the navy, 386 officers were recruited in the past year, up from 323 officers in 2021.

In the air force, 519 officers were onboarded last year, an uptick from 467 in 2021. While 4,609 airmen were recruited in 2021, 423 vacancies were filled in 2022.