VACANT POSTS
LOK SABHA
There has been some
shortage of officers in the Armed Forces. The present shortage
of officers in the Army is 12554, in Air Force it is 515 and in
Navy is 1098 personnel.
Several steps have
been taken by the three Services to fill the vacant posts. The
Image Projection Campaign by the Army has been launched in 1997
and currently Phase-III of the Campaign is under way. In addition,
seminars, lectures and presentations are also organised by the
Recruiting Offices at schools and colleges in order to motivate
the youth to join the Army and the training capacity of the Army
has been increased to facilitate increased intake.
Sustained publicity
efforts are being undertaken by the Air Force to attract talented
and qualified youth into the officers’ cadre. Almost 3000 Schools
and Colleges are on the mailing list for sending the publicity
material. Campus interviews are undertaken by qualified assessors
from Selection Boards so as to interact directly with potential
candidates and answer their queries about the service. Schools
and Colleges are visited regularly for motivational talks.
Extensive publicity
and recruitment drives are being carried out by the Navy. Motivation
drives are conducted in various colleges/institutions in order
to widen the scope of the target population.
In addition, the
valiant image of the Armed Forces is consistently projected through
the electronic and the print media. The Directorate of Public
Relations of Ministry of Defence, regularly interacts with the
media persons while giving Defence related information and endeavours
to ensure positive publicity of the same. Regular coverage of
defence related events in the print and electronic media goes
a long way in creating awareness among the masses and motivating
the youth to join the armed forces. Websites are also operative
on the Internet providing career information on the three services.
This information
was given by the Defence Minister Shri George Fernandes in a written
reply to Shri Virendra Kumar in Lok Sabha today.
