When Indian defence forces had a shortage of 1,35,784 personnel including 1,16,464 vacancies in the Army, followed by 13,597 in the Navy and 5,723 in the Air Force why was the Central government further reducing the intake through the Agnipath scheme, thus compromising on national security, asked Congress MP and former TPCC President N. Uttam Kumar Reddy.
Referring to the government’s figures revealed in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Reddy said that through the Agnipath scheme the government wants to further reduce the forces by 25% and that too at a time when China and Pakistan were increasingly getting hostile. “This is nothing but jeopardising national security,” he said.
Mr. Reddy, who himself was a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force before joining politics, spoke to the media in New Delhi expressing concern over the quality and quantity of manpower that was likely to be hit. He said the average annual recruitment was 60,000 in the Indian Army, 5,332 in the Navy and 5,723 in the Indian Air Force. However, through the Agnipath scheme, the Centre proposed to recruit only 45,000 personnel in the Indian Army and 3,000 each in the Navy and Air Force. “Why is the Modi government so adamant on bringing in Agnipath scheme?”
Referring to written replies given by the Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt on his question in the Lok Sabha on Saturday and another question raised by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on July 18, Mr. Reddy said that the Central Government had admitted to the huge shortage of personnel in all the three Armed Forces.
He said that, according to the Minister’s reply, the total sanctioned strength of commissioned officers and other ranks of the Indian Army is Officers - 56,972; Nursing Officers - 4,396 and JCOs/ OR - 12,41,768. Similarly, the total strength of officers (excluding medical and dental) and sailors in the Indian Navy as on May 31, 2022, is Officers (excluding medical and dental) – 11,821 and Sailors 75,866. Likewise, the sanctioned strength of the Indian Air Force is; Officers (excluding medical and dental) – 12,745 and Airmen/Non Combatants (E) 1,56,362.
Mr. Reddy said the Minister of State for Defence was also non-committal on the time by which the Ministry plans to fill the total sanctioned strength of commissioned officers and other ranks in the Armed Forces. “He gave a generic reply by saying recruitment in the Armed Forces is undertaken as per the organisational requirement considering facts like annual retirement, exits and Premature Retirement etc.”
