13 Mar : The ongoing recession and the implementation of the sixth Pay Commission would help the Army fill in 11,000 post of officers currently vacant, a top Army recruiting officer said today.
"There is a definite shortage of 11,000 officers. We hope to attract better talent at a time when jobs in the other sectors have become limited owing to the recession and the announcement of the Sixth Pay Commission," Adjutant-general Integrated Headquarters of the Ministry of Defence (Army) Lt Gen Mukesh Sabharwal told newsmen.
Attributing the trickling flow of talent in the services due to better opportunities in the corporate world, he said that as a counter-measure, students in their XIIth standard were being recruited and their college fees paid on condition that they serve the Army for at least six years as Short Service Cadre after graduation.
Once these students complete six years in the Army, they can opt either for retirement or an extension.
If they opt for the latter, the Army sponsors their higher studies to prepare them for a new career after they left, Sabharwal said.