India's chief of the army Kapoor hinted on 14 January 2008 on the possibilty of conscription to solve the shortage of officers in the Indian army. He said: "If things don't improve, the government may have to take a view on it." However, he also said that "we have not come to that stage yet".
According to official figures, the Indian army is facing a shortage of 11,238 officers, against a sanctioned strength of 46,615 officers - a staggering 25% shortfall. And it's not the army alone that is confronted with a dearth of officer corps.