New Delhi, September 13: Facing an acute shortage of officers in its Special Forces, the Indian Army has decided to send two passing-out officers each from its academies to these elite units.
“We have shortage of over 60 per cent officers in our Para (SF) units. We would now be sending two volunteer officers each to these battalions right after they pass out from our academies such as the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun and Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai,” a senior Army official told PTI here.
Out of the sanctioned strength of around 35 officers, the official said, these units have only 10—12 officers.
“More than half of the officers on the strength of these units are out doing their mandatory courses in our various schools and centres. So, these units are left only with four to five officers at any time to manage the affairs,” he said.
At the moment, the Army has seven Para (SF) units, which are deployed in different locations across the country.
The tough and strict physical and mental parameters for qualifying into the SF battalions are attributed as main reasons behind the shortage of officers.
Infantry and other units are also facing a shortage of 30-35 officers but problems of SF units become more acute because not many officers are able to qualify the physical tests and 90 days probation that they have to go through before they join the SF, army sources said.
—PTI