Recruitment in Defence Forces (Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4929)

This question on recruitment in the country’s defence forces and the strength of these forces was asked by Dr. Dhal Singh Bisen, the then Member of the Lok Sabha, elected from Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh. It was an unstarred question, that is, “a question which is not called for oral answer in the House and the written answer to such a question is deemed to have been laid on the Table”

The question was answered in the eighth session of the 17th Lok Sabha on April 1, 2022 by Ajay Bhatt, Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence.

As per the answer, the total strength of the army (excluding officers and recruits from Bhutan and Nepal) was 1,110,079 in April 2022. The total strength of the navy (excluding officers) was 63,700 and that of the air force (excluding offers) was 138,994. The total strength of the armed forces (excluding officers) was thus 1,312,773 as of April 2022.

Uttar Pradesh contributes the highest number of personnel in the armed forces among all states and union territories, with a share of 16.41 per cent amounting to 215,445 personnel.

A document on state-wise contribution to the armed forces compiled by PARI can be found here.