The Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and Assam Rifles are facing over 1.09 lakh personnel shortages across various ranks, Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. He stated that the Ministry of Home Affairs is taking steps to fill the vacancies in a time-bound and systematic manner.
“Filling up vacancies is a continuous process. The Ministry has been taking and will continue to take earnest steps to fill up the vacancies expeditiously through agencies like the UPSC and SSC,” Rai said. Vacancies arise due to retirements, resignations, promotions, deaths, and the raising of new battalions.
According to the data presented, 72,769 posts have already been notified for recruitment and the process is currently underway. Letters have been issued to the Director-Generals of CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP, SSB, and Assam Rifles to address the issue.
As of January 1, 2025, CRPF has a sanctioned strength of 3,30,983 personnel but only 2,96,114 are in position, leaving 34,869 posts vacant. BSF has a shortage of 14,467 out of a sanctioned 2,72,447. CISF faces a gap of over 43,000 with only 1,50,720 personnel against a sanctioned 1,93,970.
The ITBP is short by 15,035, while SSB is facing 7,859 vacancies. Assam Rifles has a shortfall of 3,791 personnel.
To address the manpower crisis, the government has signed an MoU with SSC for annual recruitment of Constables (General Duty). Long-term nodal forces have also been nominated for coordinating recruitment to GD posts at Constable, Sub-Inspector, and Assistant Commandant levels.
Rai further stated that CAPFs have been directed to accelerate recruitment in non-GD cadres. Other measures include faster departmental promotion committee (DPC) meetings, streamlined medical examinations, and lowering of cutoff marks to ensure sufficient candidate selection, particularly in categories with observed shortfalls.
