JOIN USOver 81K paramilitary personnel sought voluntary retirement since 2011: MHA
Over 81,000 paramilitary personnel have sought voluntary retirement while close to 16,000 have resigned from the forces since 2011 with CRPF and BSF accounting for the largest number, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Tuesday.
Minister of State for Home Nityananda Rai said "no specific study" has been conducted to ascertain the reasons for voluntary retirement or resignation from paramilitary forces.
However, Rai said in a written reply to Lok Sabha, an analysis by forces indicated that personal and domestic reasons, including family issues, health issues of self or family members, social or family obligations and commitments and better career opportunities are some of the major reasons for voluntary retirement or resignation.
According to the MHA statistics, a total of 81,007 personnel took voluntary retirement while 15,904 others resigned from the forces between 2011 and March 1, 2021.
The highest number of voluntary retirement was in BSF at 36,768 followed by CRPF 26,164. CISF had 6,705, Assam Rifles had 4,947, SSB had 3,230 and ITBP had 3,193 voluntary retirements during this period.
When it comes to resignations, CISF topped the list with 5,848 personnel putting in papers since 2011, followed by 3,837 BSF persons and 3,366 CRPF persons. ITBP witnessed 1,648 resignations, while SSB saw 1,031 and Assam Rifles saw 174 resignations.
An analysis of yearly figures showed that the number of people taking VRS decreased over years — almost by half if one compares 2011 and 2020 figures.
In 2011, 11,260 paramilitary personnel from six forces took voluntary retirement and the number fell to 5,935 in 2020. Till March 1, 2021, there were 1,529 voluntary retirements.
Except for 2011, 2012 and 2017, the voluntary retirements stood below the 10,000-mark in the past ten years. In 2011, there were 10,859 voluntary retirements while in 2017 it was 11,728, the highest for any year in the past 10 years.
The numbers were 9,355 in 2013, 5,931 in 2014 and 1,686 in 2015. However, 2016 saw a rise to 6,981 and 2018 saw 8,132 voluntary retirements. In 2019, there were 7,611 voluntary retirements.
When it comes to resignations, the figure crossed the 2,000-mark only twice — 2,332 in 2013 and 2,026 in 2015. While there were 132 resignations this year till March 1, last year saw 1,529 personnel resigning.
Rai said the government has taken corrective measures to address the issue of personnel taking voluntary retirement. Forces now organise regular Sainik Sammelans, seminars, interactive and counselling sessions at various levels to redress the grievances.
"The remedial measures for increasing satisfaction level of force personnel such as grant of leave, option for choice posting, posting of couples at same stations, providing family accommodation, provision of medical and education facilities, etc. are taken regularly," he said.
Further, he said, prior to acceptance of voluntary retirement, individuals concerned are counseled by the Head of office and Head of Department about consequences and likely financial hardships they might face after voluntary retirement.
Cases of voluntary retirements are processed only when the individuals are not willing to continue in services even after counseling by senior officers, Rai added.