Shortage of Officers in the Army – Implementation of AV Singh Committee Report

Press Information Bureau 

Government of India

Ministry of Defence 

09-December-2013 16:28 IST

The held strength of officers in the Army is 38574 (as on 1st July 2013) as against sanctioned strength of 47762 (excluding Army Medical Corps, Army Dental Corps and Military Nursing Service). 

Steps have been taken on a continuous and an ongoing basis to address the issue of shortage of officers in the Army. All officers including those in Short Service Commission (SSC) are now eligible to hold substantive rank of Captain, Major and Lieutenant Colonel after 2, 6 and 13 years of reckonable service respectively. The tenure of SSC officers has been increased from 10 years to 14 years. A total number of 750 posts of Lt. Colonel have been upgraded to Colonel towards implementation of AV Singh Committee Report (Phase-I). Further, 1896 additional posts in the ranks of Colonel, Brigadier, Major General and Lieutenant General and their equivalents in the other two Services have been upgraded towards implementation of AV Singh Committee Report (Phase-II). 

The implementation of recommendations of the VI Central Pay Commission with substantial improvement in the pay structure of officers of Armed Forces has made the Services more attractive. 

The Armed Forces have undertaken sustained image projection and publicity 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 other measures in this direction. 

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in a written reply to Shri Arjun Meghwal and Kumari Saroj Pandey in Lok Sabha today.

Source: PIB