Updated on Thursday, April 26, 2007, 00:00 IST

New Delhi, April 26: With the three services facing a shortage of officers, new figures have revealed that as many as 37,866 personnel were granted voluntary retirement during the past three years.

The biggest chunk came from the army, with 35,255 personnel leaving on voluntary retirement as against 2,579 from the Air Force and only 32 from the Navy, according to the figures placed in Lok Sabha on Thursday.

In the case of the Army, the maximum number of personnel -- 15,727 -- sought "premature discharge" in 2004 while the highest number of Air Force opted for voluntary retirement in 2006.

Of the 1,782 officers who sought discharge from the Army in the past three years, 1,119 were granted retirement, while the Navy approved 456 of the 549 applications from officers seeking voluntary retirement. The Air Force received 729 such requests from officers and it granted retirement to 489.

The reasons given by officers seeking voluntary retirement included supersession in promotion and failure to acquire minimum technical qualifications for promotion.

Other reasons included increased employment opportunities in the civil sector, being permanently placed in a low medical category and compassionate factors like looking after ailing family members.

Bureau Report