If you are planning to set up shop, help is at hand from an unexpected quarter ? the army.

Around 60,000 personnel, all in their mid-thirties and retired from various divisions of the army, have enrolled with the resettlement board of the force to offer their expertise on a commercial basis to develop infrastructure.

?To keep the army lean and young, services of personnel aged between 35 and 45 are terminated. They are highly skilled in their respective trades and can make significant contribution to the country?s infrastructure,? said S. Samadder, director of the resettlement board in the eastern zone.

The army?s resettlement wing has, for the first time, set up a stall in the 19th Industrial Trade Fair to showcase the advantages of recruiting the retired personnel.

At present, only 3,000 ex-servicemen are being offered jobs after retirement.

Most are inducted by private security firms. ?But how will you feel if after serving the force as a computer technician, you are suddenly asked to guard a factory?? Samadder pointed out.

?Several trained personnel from each cadre of the force retire every year. At the moment, 58,745 retired personnel ? including professionals like doctors, nurses, aviators and lawyers ? are available for hire. They include 6,000 widows of jawans who died in harness,? said Colonel (retd) S.K. Majumder.

An officer of the resettlement board said: ?Our retired personnel have vast experience in information technology, bomb disposal, controlling communication technology, a skill often required by police, and maintaining large-scale security systems like that of the railways and telecommunication installations.?

Officers retiring from senior ranks, like generals, are inducted by the industry as advisers, chairmen or in other senior managerial positions.

Officers up to the rank of colonel are mostly appointed, post-retirement, to key posts in quality control, production and administration.

?The chief advantage of recruiting ex-armymen is that the employers are assured of the quality of service,? Majumder explained.

?The appointees have spent quite a few years with the army, which demands highest degree of discipline and work ethics. As discipline is an integral part of their attitude, the retired personnel easily score over others,? he added.