Lok Sabha Question No. 321 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-12
Subject: Shortage of Officers in Defence
Ministry: DEFENCE
Asked by: ANIRUDHAN SAMPATH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF DEFENCE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE

## LOK  SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.321

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 12 TH  DECEMBER, 2018

## SHORTAGE OF OFFICERS IN DEFENCE

## 321. DR. A. SAMPATH:

Will the Minister of DEFENCE j{kk ea=h be pleased to state: (a) whether it is true that there is acute shortage of officers in Army, Navy, Air Force and para-military forces; (b) if so, the details thereof; (c) the total sanctioned strength as well as shortage of officers in Army, Navy and Air Force as on date; and the number of soldiers who took the extreme step of taking their own life in the

- (d) last  four  years  and  the  steps  taken  by  Government  to  improve  the  morale  of  soldiers?

## A    N    S    W    E    R

MINISTER OF STATE

(DR. SUBHASH BHAMRE)

IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

र  ा रा य मं ी

(डा. सुभाष भामरे)

(a) to (d):

A statement is attached.

*******

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 321 FOR ANSWER ON 12.12.2018

(a) to (c): The details of strength of Officers in the three Armed Forces and paramilitary forces are as under:-

| Service                                 | Authorised Strength     | Held Strength          |   Shortage |
|-----------------------------------------|-------------------------|------------------------|------------|
| Army*                                   | 50028 (as on 31.3.2018) | 42734 (as on 1.7.2018) |       7294 |
| Navy# (As on 31.10.2018)                | 11415                   | 9925                   |       1457 |
| Air Force# (As on 1.7.2018)             | 12584                   | 12392                  |        192 |
| Para-Military Forces (As on 30.11.2018) | 18416                   | 15449                  |       2969 |

- (d) The details of number of incidents of suicide in the defence forces during last four years, force-wise & year-wise is as under:

|   Year |   Army |   Navy |   Air Force |
|--------|--------|--------|-------------|
|   2014 |     84 |      4 |          24 |
|   2015 |     78 |      3 |          15 |
|   2016 |    104 |      6 |          19 |
|   2017 |     74 |      5 |          21 |

Various steps have been taken by the Armed Forces to create healthy/appropriate  environment  for  their  Officers  and  Other  Ranks.  Some  of these steps are as under:-

- -Provision  of  better  quality  of  facilities  such  as  clothing,  food,  married accommodation, travel facilities, schooling, recreation etc. and periodic welfare meeting.
- -Conduct of yoga and meditation as a tool for stress management.
- -Training and deployment of psychological counsellors.
- -Institutionalization  of  projects  'MILAP'  and  'SAHYOG'  by  Army  in Northern & Eastern Command to reduce stress among troops.
- -A 'Mansik Sahayata Helpline' has been established by Army & Air Force to take professional counselling.
- -Mental Health Awareness is provided during pre-induction training.
- -Formation of Military  Psychiatry  Treatment  Centre  at  INHS  Asvini  and establishment  of  Mental  Health  Centres  in  Mumbai,  Visakhapatnam, Kochi, Port Blair, Goa and Karwar.
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