Indian Army hit by manpower crunch; no recruitment in two years
With no recruitment taking place for the last two years, the Indian Army has started feeling the pinch of the decision.
FollowWith no recruitment taking place for the last two years, the Indian Army has started feeling the pinch of the decision.
Sources in the Indian Army said, "Every year about 50,000-60,000 new soldiers were used to be inducted into the Indian Army, but after 2019 no new recruitment has been made. This has led to the added workload on the available resources."
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It must be noted that around the same number of soldiers proceed for retirement every year. A senior Indian Army official said that the men deployed at high altitude areas or operational areas had to suffer a lot with a lack of manpower.
A second officer said, "Even if we start the recruitment process today it will take around 1.5 years to select and train them."
Why did the Indian Army not conduct recruitment rallies?
In a written reply to Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt stated the Covid-19 pandemic as the reason for cancelling all the rallies nationwide.
"All Recruitment Rallies planned by Army Recruiting Offices /Zonal Recruiting Offices have been suspended till further orders due to the prevailing Covid-19 situation in the country," he informed Rajya Sabha.
He also shared the details of the recruitment rallies that the Indian Army was supposed to carry out in 2020 and 2021.
Bhatt stated that 97 rallies were planned in 2020-21, out of which only 47 rallies could be conducted. Out of the 47 recruitment rallies, Common Entrance Exam for only four rallies could be conducted before the suspension of recruiting activities.
For 2021-22, as many as 87 recruitment rallies were scheduled, out of which only four Rallies have been conducted so far and no CEE could be conducted.
Major source of rural income
For youths from a rural background, the Indian armed forces have been a major job provider. At the moment, over one lakh posts are lying vacant in the armed forces.
During the recently-concluded assembly elections, the youths had raised the issue of recruitment rallies in Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's election campaigns in Uttar Pradesh. The minister had assured them of resuming it soon.
Recruitment of female candidates
At least 300 vacancies have been released for the recruitment of Women Military Police. However, only 101 were inducted in 2019. Other 200 were supposed to be inducted in 2020 and 2021 but the recruitment has been withheld due to the spread of the pandemic.
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