Armed forces continue to suffer from shortage of manpower, even as government is making efforts to attract youth, parliament was told Tuesday.Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, in response to a question in Rajya Sabha, said according to latest data, there is a shortage of 7,989 officers and 26,928 other ranks in the army, 1,499 officers and 11,631 sailors in the navy and 357 officers and 2,951 airmen in the air force.The figures do not include the shortage in medical and dental branches."Government has taken a number of measures to encourage the youth to join the armed forces, including sustained image projection, participation in career fairs and exhibitions, media campaign etc," Parrikar said.
"Further, government has taken various steps to make armed forces jobs attractive. These include implementation of recommendations of the Sixth Central Pay Commission with improved pay structure, additional family accommodation through Married Accommodation Project (MAP) and improvement in promotion prospects in the armed forces," he said.