The defence ministry, on 9 December, informed the Parliament that there are 135,891 posts lying vacant in all three services of the armed force – Indian Army, Indian Air Force, and Indian Navy.
The army accounted for the highest number of vacancies (118,485), followed by the navy (11,587) and the air force (5,819), minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt said in the Lok Sabha during the ongoing winter session of the Parliament.
According to the ministry records, 40,000 vacancies have been advertised for JCOs/OR in the army, 3,000 for Agniveer in the navy, and 3,000 in the air force as Agniveervayu. The Agniveers will be paid a customised package of ₹30,000 per month, with fixed yearly increment, the minister informed the House in an official statement.
“Agniveers will not be required to contribute to any provident fund of the government.
There shall be no entitlement to gratuity and any kind of pensionary benefits in the case of Agniveers. Risk and hardship allowances will be given based on the individual’s place of posting,” the statement added.
Bhatt stated these in response to a question raised by Congress MP Deepak Baij.
