Over 93,000 Posts in Central Armed Police Forces and Assam Rifles Vacant: Govt Tells Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: More than 93,000 posts in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and Assam Rifles are lying vacant as of January 2026, Rajya Sabha was told on Wednesday (March 11), with the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) having the highest vacancies. 

A question was raised by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Ashok Kumar Mittal, about the number of vacancies in the central paramilitary forces and whether they have adversely affected law enforcement, internal security and disaster response capabilities.

In a written reply, minister of state for home affairs, Nityanand Rai informed the upper house that there were 28,342 vacancies in CISF, 27,400 in the CRPF, 14,531 vacancies in Border Security Force (BSF), 12,333 in Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), 6,784 in Shastra Seema Bal (SSB), and 3,749 in Assam Rifles. This takes the total vacancies to 93,139.

“Filling up of vacancies is a continuous process. The ministry takes earnest steps to fill up the vacancies expeditiously through UPSC, SSC and the forces concerned,” Rai said in his reply.

While the number of vacancies has reduced from 1.09 lakh in 2025, it has increased from 2024, when the vacancies in the CAPFs and Assam Rifles stood at ­­­­­84,106, as informed by the home ministry in Rajya Sabha. 

On whether it has had any impact on law enforcement or security response, the minister said, “Forces are discharging all duties in a highly professional manner through optimal utilization of available resources.”

Directions have been issued to all CAPFs and Assam Rifles to undertake recruitment against vacant posts in non-general duty cadres in a time-bound manner.

Further measures included, Yearly recruitment for the post of Constable (General Duty), nomination of a nodal force for recruitment in key ranks, and the use of radio frequency identification in physical efficiency tests. 

The government has also reduced the time taken in medical examinations to expedite the recruitment process. 

Cut off marks for shortlisting candidates for Constable/GD posts has also been lowered, especially in categories where shortfalls have been observed, to ease the selection of candidates.

Additionally, regular meetings of the departmental promotion committee are held for filling up of promotional vacancies.

Last month, in response to a separate question on suicides, fratricides, resignations and voluntary retirement cases in the CAPFs, Rai had informed the upper house that there is a rise in resignations in paramilitary forces. 

As per the data presented to the house, there were 2,333 resignations in 2025 compared to 1,255 in 2021. The data also showed that there were 1,183, 2,037, and 2,724 resignations in 2022, 2023, and 2024, respectively.

At the same time, there has been a decline in the number of suicides, fratricides, and voluntary retirements. The number of suicides has come down to 158 in 2025 as compared to 143 in 2021, fratricide cases are down to four in 2025 from 11 in 2021, and voluntary retirements have dropped from 10,828 in 2021 to 4,291 in 2025.

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