The Indian Army is currently facing a significant manpower shortage of over one lakh personnel, as reported by the Ministry of Defence to the Parliamentary Standing Committee. This shortfall comes at a time when the Army is actively dealing with security challenges along the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan and the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.

While the Army’s current strength stands at 12.48 lakh, it falls short of the sanctioned strength by more than a lakh. As of October 1, 2024, the Army had 11,05,110 personnel compared to the approved 11,97,520. A major gap exists in the ranks of Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) and Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs), with a deficit of 92,410, translating to a 7.72% shortfall. The officer cadre is also under strain, with only 42,095 officers (excluding those in Medical, Dental, and Nursing Corps) in service against a sanctioned strength of 50,538 — a 16.71% shortage as of July 1, 2024.

Despite a recent de-escalation agreement with China, more than 50,000 troops remain stationed along the LAC in eastern Ladakh, where the Army has maintained a strong presence for five years. Additionally, the rise in terror-related activities in Jammu prompted the deployment of 15,000 more soldiers to the region. To bridge the personnel gap, the Defence Ministry is relying on the Agnipath recruitment scheme. The ministry stated that as the scheme continues, it will help reduce the soldier shortage.

To address the officer shortfall, the ministry has initiated several reforms. These include improving the Service Selection Board (SSB) process by sending multiple reminders to candidates, offering second chances to those who miss interviews, doubling the number of SSB batches, enabling online documentation uploads, and shortening the medical examination timeline from 8–10 days to just 2–3 days.

The gap in manpower was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, during which recruitment halted for two years while 60,000 soldiers retired annually — resulting in a loss of around 1.2 lakh personnel. Although the Agnipath scheme has been bringing in 40,000 recruits annually since its 2022 launch, the backlog from the pandemic period continues to impact overall troop strength.

The Defence Ministry also emphasized that officer vacancies are being filled regularly based on attrition rates. Additional measures to boost officer recruitment include the establishment of a Young Leaders’ Training Wing at OTA Chennai and the revision of the 10+2 Technical Entry Scheme (TES) to a 3+1 year format, which reduces training time by a year and ensures quicker availability of officers. According to the ministry, these reforms have led to improved intake percentages for pre-commission training.

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