2020 deadline to fill vacancies in Indian Navy

The shortage of manpower in the Indian Navy which is pegged at 16.1 per cent may soon start to get filled. The Navy has chalked out a plan keeping 2020 as its deadline to get its complete sanctioned strength of officers and sailors. 

At present, the shortage of officers is pegged at 16.1 per cent and it is 11 per cent at the sailor’s level. A navy officer, who is privy to the plan, told TSI on the condition of anonymity, “We have already taken measures and we will be able to bring the shortage of sailors to just 5 per cent by 2012. As for the officers, we have increased our intake of the Short Service Commission officers and we have planned to make it even by year 2020.”

Explaining the entire process to be time taking the officers said, “The percentage of rejection of the applicants is as high as 97 to 98 per cent and on the other hand it becomes a vicious cycle once we increase the intake as then we will require more training infrastructures, more teaching staffs. These staffs will have to be drawn from the operational officers and thus will lead to pressure on the operations. Hence, we are growing very slow and thus we have set year 2020 as the time line by which we will be able to make up for the shortage”.

The shortage of officers in the Army is around 11,500 and in the Navy, the shortage is 1,606. The Air Force is short by 1,342 officers.