The Indian Army, the Navy and Air Force are facing a shortage of more than 9,000 officers, the government said on Wednesday. The Indian Army alone is short of 7,298 officers, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. He said the Army has an authorised strength of 49,933 officers but as on January 1, 2018, it had only 42,635. The Indian Army is considered the second largest army in the world with 1.4 million officers and others, according to the World Atlas 2018 report.

The Indian Navy has a sanctioned strength of 11,352 officers but has only 9,746 - a shortage of 1,606, according to data as on July 1, 2018. Similarly, the Air Force's authorised strength of officers is 12,584 but it has only 12,392 and is short of 192. The minister said recruitment in the Armed Forces was a continuous process and the government was taking a number of measures to reduce the shortages.