Indian Armed Forces see a growing number of those taking voluntary retirement

• The recent government data shows a rise in officers voluntarily retiring from Indian Armed Forces.
  
• Indian Army has the highest attrition rate, followed by Indian Air Force at the second place and Indian Navy in the last.
  
• While Indian Air Force and Indian Navy’s attrition rate dropped in 2018, Indian Army saw a rise of almost 30 more cases in the same year.
  

The number of people taking voluntary retirement from Indian Armed Forces is also rising, in addition to posts lying vacant.

The rate of voluntary retirements is the highest in the Indian Army, and is rising. With 412 officers voluntarily retiring in 2018, the number has been gradually increasing with 353 officers leaving in 2016 and 383 in 2017, according to PIB press release.

Indian Air Force stands at the second place when it comes to attrition rate. In 2016, 186 officers left the force voluntarily. While the number increased in 2017 to reach 205, it came down to 184 in 2018.

The attrition rate is the lowest in the Indian Navy with 102 officers retiring prematurely in 2018. This number has come down from 138 retirement cases in 2016 and 137 cases in 2017.

This does not bode well with the fact that the Indian Army is already facing manpower shortage. As many as 49,000 posts are lying vacant which includes 7,399 posts for officers.

“The government has taken a number of measures to reduce the shortages including sustained image projection, participation in career fairs and exhibitions and publicity campaign to create awareness among the youth,” said Mr Shripad Naik, Minister of State for Defence.

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