Recently, a leaked note from Indian Navy pointed on the fact that the number of officers opting for premature retirement in the Navy is maximum this year since 2009. Not only this, it came to our knowledge that the officers in all the three services of the military are opting for premature retirement, i.e. retirement before the age of their superannuation.
So, here we bring you the numbers of the shortage of officers in the Indian military and the number of officers opting for premature retirement.
Army:
There is a shortage of about 8,671 officers in the Army, that means 23% of the total sanctioned strength of 49,833 officers.
The Army currently has 41,162 officers, having to make do with a shortfall of officers mostly at the junior level, which is operationally critical.
According to the Ministry of Defence, the number of premature retirements in the Army was 221 in 2013, 120 in 2014 and 62 in 2015. This figure till the end of May this year has increased to 64 now.
Navy:
In Navy, there are 1,518 officers short, or 17% of its authorised strength of 11,384. The Navy has 9,866 officers currently serving in the force.
In the Navy, the retirements from 2013-15 were 96, 91 and 68, which went up to 89 in July this year.
Compare this to 69 cases in 2015, 91 in 2014, 96 in 2013, 132 in 2012, 122 in 2011, 114 in 2010 and 125 in 2009. This was the highest since 2009!
Air Force:
But in Air Force, the number is very low – a mere 29 officers short, or 4% of its strength.
The Air Force reported no deficiency of officers last year.
The premature retirement figures for the Air Force are 131, 108 and 59, with the number of officers opting out early this year shooting up to 109 till the beginning of this month.
