Shortage of more than 1 Lakh Paramilitary Personnel, with the CRPF Highest: Govt Data

In response to a query from Rajya Sabha MP Derek O. Brien, the home ministry told the Parliament that the six paramilitary forces are short at least 1,09,868 individuals compared to their authorized strength.
The home ministry's minister of state for the home, Nityanand Rai, responded that the current shortage is the worst since 2021.

To be sure, Rai in his reply denied that there is a huge vacancy and said that “presently 72,689 vacancies of various posts have been notified for recruitment, which are underway.”

Assam Rifles (AR), the Border Security Force (BSF), the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) are the six paramilitary forces listed in the response. In 2023, the shortfall was 84,374, compared to 64,897 the previous year. 68,674 and 109,174 were the figures for 2022 and 2021, respectively.

With 34,869 openings, the CRPF had the highest, followed by the CISF with 33,847 and the ITBP with 15,035. With a sanctioned strength of 3,30,893 posts, the CRPF is undoubtedly the greatest paramilitary force. The BSF comes in second with 2,72,447 posts, while the CISF comes in third with 1,93,970 post

 Assam Rifles has 65,540 postings, SSB has 1,00,548, and ITBP has 1,03,622.
In addition to protecting the nation's borders and dealing with internal security and law and order issues, paramilitary forces are also involved in special security missions like the ongoing Amarnath Yatra. During such assignment, a distinct mission is assigned to each force. Their combined sanctioned strength exceeds one million (1,067,110).