73,219 posts vacant in paramilitary forces: govt

New Delhi:As many as 73,219 posts are vacant in paramilitary forces including due to retirements, resignations, deaths, and cadre reviews, minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai told Parliament on Wednesday. Rai said this in response to Communist Party of India (Marxist) member V Sivadasan’s question on vacancies in paramilitary and police forces of union territories.

Rai said 18,124 posts were also are lying vacant in police forces of union territories. He added that measures were being taken to fill the vacancies. “Filling up of vacancies is an ongoing continuous process which is done as per the administrative and operational requirement of the forces,” said Rai.

In August, Rai informed the Parliament 1,11,093 posts were vacant in the paramilitary forces, with the majority of them being of the constable rank. He said that the recruitment process was delayed and hit by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.