HYDERABAD: Accusing the Narendra Modi government of jeopardising national security by not filling up the vacancies in the Armed Forces, Congress MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Friday said that the Centre has reduced the annual intake by almost 25 per cent, instead of filling up all the vacant positions.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Saturday, Uttam said that the Defence Ministry, in its reply to the question raised by Mallikarjun Kharge, had informed that the three Armed Forces have a shortage of 1,35,784 personnel. There are 1,16,464 vacancies in the Indian Army, followed by 13,597 in the Navy and 5,723 in the Air Force.
The average annual recruitment is 60,000 in the Army, 5,332 in the Navy and 5,723 in the Air Force. “As a former Air Force fighter pilot who has served on the borders, I am deeply concerned that the present serious manpower shortages and lower quality and quantity of intake through the ill-conceived Agnipath scheme will seriously jeopardise national security,” Uttam stated.