- The United Kingdom government has announced relaxation of recruitment criteria for Commonwealth nationals to apply for jobs in its armed forces.
- The above decision has been taken in order to meet the shortage in its ranks.
- As per the UK Ministry of Defence, the government has now decided to remove the five-year UK residency criterion for Commonwealth citizens and increase recruitment to 1,350 across the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force.
- Commonwealth is an association of 53 independent states, including India.
- Currently, only 200 Commonwealth citizens per year can apply without having lived in the UK for five years.
- The UK armed forces are short of 8,200 soldiers, sailors and air personnel. It is the worst shortage since 2010, said the independent government watchdog, the National Audit Office of UK.
