Shortage of officers in Army as on 01.01.2014 is 8455 (17.77%). In Other Ranks, there is a nominal shortfall of 16597 (1.44%) as on 01.04.2014. To mitigate any adverse impact on the functioning of the Army, appropriate measures have been undertaken including internal adjustments. Various measures have been taken on an ongoing basis to reduce shortages in the officers’ cadre. Vigorous campaigns have been launched to attract the talented youth to join the Armed Forces. The service conditions of the officers joining through Short Service Commission (SSC) have been made attractive. The tenure of SSC officers has been increased from 10 years to 14 years. The implementation of recommendations of the VI Central Pay Commission with substantial improvement in the pay structure of officers of Armed Forces has also made the Services more attractive.
Army has undertaken sustained image projection campaign to create awareness among the youth on the advantages of taking up a challenging and satisfying career. Awareness campaigns, participation in career fairs and exhibitions, advertisements in print and electronic media, motivational lectures in schools, colleges are some of the measures in this direction. All the above mentioned measures have resulted in gradual improvement in the last five years with shortage of officers reducing from 26% in 2010 to 17.77% in 2014. This information was given by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley in a written reply to Naresh Agrawal in Rajya Sabha today.