Indian Army: 7,000 officer posts vacant in 2022 amid China, Pakistan terror challenges

Amid border aggression by China and proxy war by Pakistan, the Indian Army suffered from more than 7,000 vacancies in officer posts in 2022.

The data was revealed by Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt in a written reply in Parliament on 6 February 2023.

On 1 January 2022, the number of vacant posts was 7,665, and it fell marginally to 7,363 on 15 December 2022. The number of vacant JCO and other officer posts was 1.18 lakh on 15 December.

In 2022-23, the defence expenditure was 14.08 per cent of the central government expenses, Parliament was informed.

The defence expenditure was ₹5,55,484 crores while the central government expenditure was ₹39,44,909 crores for the year 2022-23, according to the data shared by the government in the response.

The defence expenditure was ₹5,23,330 crores while the central government expenditure was ₹35,09,836 crores for 2020-21, the percentage being 14.91 per cent.

"It is seen from above data that Defence Expenditure as a percentage of Central Government Expenditure may appear to be decreasing due to increasing trend in the growth of Central Government Expenditure. However, Defence Expenditure is increasing in absolute terms, implying higher spending," the minister said in his response.

(With PTI inputs)

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