Army's 2nd Officers Training Academy to start from July 18

Updated on: Monday, July 18, 2011

Taking a significant step towards meeting the shortage of over 12,000 officers, the Indian Army's second Officers Training Academy (OTA) will start functioning from July 18 at Gaya in Bihar.

The new academy will be in addition to the existing one at Chennai and will also help army increase its officer cadre base, army officials said.

The academy will start with training 135 officers and in the next two years, engage the full strength of over 700 Short Service Commission (SSC) officers, they said.

The army is facing a shortage of 12,349 officers against its sanctioned strength of around 46,500. It is also looking to increase the number of officers to meet the new security requirements.

Following the nod from the Central government two years ago, it was decided that the new academy would be based at Army Services Corps (ASC) training centre in Gaya. The ASC centre was subsequently moved to Bangalore.

A number of steps have been taken by the government to attract youth to join the armed forces, which include increasing tenure of SSC officers from 10 to 14 years and promotional avenues for them.

As part of its efforts to provide more promotional avenues for the Permanent Commission officers, the armed forces have also decided to increase the intake of SSC officers.

Army's 2nd Officers Training Academy to start from July 18

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