Paramilitary Forces Understaffed by Over 1 Lakh Personnel; Recruitment Efforts in Progress
The Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) along with Assam Rifles are currently experiencing a personnel shortfall exceeding 1.09 lakh across various ranks, as informed by Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai to the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. He mentioned that the Ministry of Home Affairs is implementing measures to address these vacancies in a systematic and timely fashion.
Rai emphasized, "Filling up vacancies is a continuous process. The Ministry has been taking and will continue to take earnest steps to fill up the vacancies expeditiously through agencies like the UPSC and SSC." These vacancies arise due to factors such as retirements, resignations, promotions, deaths, and the establishment of new battalions.
The data reveals that recruitment notifications for 72,769 posts have already been issued, with the process actively underway. Letters have been dispatched to the Director-Generals of CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP, SSB, and Assam Rifles to tackle the issue.
As of January 1, 2025, the CRPF has a sanctioned strength of 3,30,983 personnel, but there are only 2,96,114 personnel in place, resulting in 34,869 vacancies. The BSF is short by 14,467 personnel out of a sanctioned 2,72,447. The CISF faces a deficit of over 43,000, with only 1,50,720 personnel against a sanctioned strength of 1,93,970.
The ITBP is currently short by 15,035 personnel, while the SSB is experiencing 7,859 vacancies. Assam Rifles has a shortfall of 3,791 personnel.
To mitigate the manpower shortage, the government has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the SSC for the annual recruitment of Constables (General Duty). Additionally, long-term nodal forces have been designated to coordinate recruitment for General Duty posts at the Constable, Sub-Inspector, and Assistant Commandant levels.
Rai also noted that CAPFs have been instructed to expedite recruitment in non-General Duty cadres. Other strategies include quicker departmental promotion committee (DPC) meetings, streamlined medical examinations, and reducing cutoff marks to ensure adequate candidate selection, especially in categories where shortfalls have been noted.
