Shortage of over 52,000 personnel in junior officers' ranks of armed forces, says government

New Delhi: The armed forces face a shortage of over 52,000 personnel in the ranks of junior commissioned officers, sailors and airmen, the government said on Friday. Topping the list is the army with a shortage of 25,472 JCOs and other ranks, which is “nominal” when its total strength is taken into account, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre said in a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha. [caption id=“attachment_3805817” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The navy needs 13,373 more sailors while the air force requires 13,785 airmen, he said in his response. Replying to another question, the minister said the army has recruited 245 women officers between 2014 and 2016. The air force has recruited 486 while the navy has taken 135 women officers into service during the same period. He added that women constitute 13 percent of the officers in the air force. Their proportion is 4.49 percent in the the navy and just 3.64 percent in the army. Bhamre also stated that there are a large number of unauthorised residential accomodations around ordnance depots in the country. Uttar Pradesh has nearly 4654 such houses, followed by 483 in Madhya Pradesh, 122 in Maharashtra including some highrises near Mumbai, and 359 in Jammu and Kashmir. In response to another question, Bhamre highlighted the activities the Indian Navy carries out with other countries and the support it provides to them. He added that the government is implementing a central scheme — ‘Blue Revolution: Integrated Development and Management of Fisheries’ — to achieve economic prosperity of the country and fishermen through sustainable utilisation of water resources.