Govt data in Lok Sabha: Ex-servicemen getting govt jobs declining in numbers since 2015
The yearly number of ex-servicemen given government jobs has seen a drastic decline in the last seven years, coming down from 10,982 in 2015 to 2,983 in 2021, according to the data shared by the government in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
The data shared in a written reply by Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt with the Lok Sabha have details of the recruitment of the ex-servicemen from 2014 to 2021.
Only 2,322 ex-servicemen were recruited in government jobs in 2014, however, the number increased to 10,982 in 2015 only to see a declining trend till 2020. In the subsequent years, the number of servicemen recruited in government jobs came down to 9,086 in 2016, 5,638 in 2017; 4,175 in 2018; 2,968 in 2019; and 2,584 in 2020. However, it slightly went up—2,983—in 2021.
The government shared this data in a reply to a question asked by the 14 opposition members—11 from Congress, Dean Kuriakose, Anto Antony), Adoor Prakash, Benny Behanan, Dr Amar Singh, Dr. A. Chellakumar, Uttam Kumar Reddy Nalamada, Balubhau Alias Suresh Narayan Dhanorkar, Manickam Tagore B, Mohammad Jawed and Kumbakudi Sudhakaran; and one each from NCP (Mohammed Faizal P P), M. Selvaraj (CPI), and S Venkatesan (CPM).
These MPs had sought details of the total number of ex-servicemen recruited in government jobs from 2014 to 2022. They also wanted to know about the reservation quotas or targets for the recruitment of ex-servicemen in various government departments.
As per the reply, the representation of ex-servicemen in the Central Civil Services & Posts (CCS&P) stood at 1.39 per cent in Group-C posts and 2.77 per cent in Group D as on June 30, 2021.
The representation of ex-servicemen in Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) stood at 2.2 per cent in Group A, 0.87 per cent in Group B and 0.47 per cent in Group C; in Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) their representation was 1.14 per cent in Group C and 0.37 per cent in Group D; and in Public Sector Banks (PSBs) their representation was 9.10 per cent in Group C and 21.34 per cent in Group D.
The reply shows that the representation of ex-servicemen was lower than their reservation in the government jobs in these departments.
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The ex-servicemen have 10 per cent reservation in direct recruitment in Group C posts and 20 per cent in Group D posts in the Central government ministries/departments (CCS&P) and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs). Their quota is even higher in Central Public Sector Undertakings and Public Sector Banks as 14.5 per cent of all direct recruitment in Group-C posts and 24.5 per cent in all direct recruitment Group-D posts are reserved for ex-servicemen.
In reply to another question, Bhatt informed the Lok Sabha that over 1, 35,850 posts were lying vacant in the Army—1,16,464 in the Indian Army (officers 7,308, MNS officers 471 and JCOs/OR 1,08,685); 13, 597 in the Indian Navy (officers excluding medical and dental 1,446 and Sailors 12,151) and 5,789 in the Indian Air Force (officers 572 and Airmen 5,217).
Bhatt said, “The government has taken a number of measures to reduce the shortages. These, interalia, include sustained image projection, participation in career fairs and exhibitions and publicity campaigns to create awareness among the youth on the advantages of taking up a challenging and satisfying career. Further, the government has taken various steps to make the job in the armed forces attractive, including improvement in promotion prospects,” he said.
