Lucknow, Aug 3 : After three senior IAS officers of Uttar Pradesh cadre sought voluntary retirement from service (VRS) within one week, the bureaucracy is abuzz with speculation. This is probably the first time that three senior IAS officers have sought to quit the service within days of each other. The three officers are Renuka Kumar (1987 batch), Juthika Patankar (1988) and Vikas Gothalwal (2003). Renuka Kumar was due to retire from service on June 30, 2023 and was repatriated to her parent cadre UP on July 28. She played a key role in the UP IAS Association campaign in the nineties to identify three most corrupt IAS officers in the state cadre. Sources in the know said that she was unwilling to return to Uttar Pradesh and applied for voluntary retirement. Juthika Patankar, who was also on deputation to the Centre, had worked as principal secretary to Uttar Pradesh Governor during Ram Naik's tenure. She sought VRS though she was due to retire in January 2024. Vikas Gothalwal, who is on study leave in the UK, reportedly sought VRS on health grounds. It is learnt the three officers have sent copies of their letter seeking VRS to chief secretary Durga Shankar Mishra and the state appointment department. Meanwhile, the internal WhatsApp groups of IAS officers are abuzz with possible reasons for the development. Officers are debating on the service conditions that are making bureaucrats stay away from Uttar Pradesh and also the intense politicisation of the bureaucracy in the state. A few top bureaucrats are also being blamed for the state of affairs. /IANS