The recruitment of officers in the Armed Forces is done on All India basis and not state-wise. The data relating to recruitment of officers and PBOR during the last two years and the current year are given at Appendix I and II respectively.

The existing recruitment centres for recruitment of PBOR are considered sufficient. Therefore, at present, there is no proposal to open new recruitment centres for recruitment of PBOR in the three Services.

A number of steps have been taken to reduce shortage of officers and to motivate the youth to join the Armed Forces. 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 services respectively. The tenure of SSC officers has been increased from 10 years to 14 years. A total number or 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-ll). It has been decided to increase intake of Short Service Commissioned officers which alongwith other measures is expected to reduce shortage of officers in the Armed Forces.

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 also some of the other measures in this direction.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in a reply to Shri Arvind Kumar Chaudhary and others in Lok Sabha today.