Ex-Agniveers to get 10 percent reservation in paramilitary forces

NEW DELHI: Amid the raging debate over the Agnipath scheme, the Centre has decided to provide 10 per cent reservation for constable vacancies within Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) for ex-Agniveers. This decision was made on Thursday, with the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Border Security Force (BSF), Railway Protection Force (RPF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) all implementing this reservation. Some forces will also offer short-duration training to ex-Agniveers before deploying them in border areas.

In a series of tweets, the Home Minister’s Office said: "The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) decides to reserve 10 per cent vacancies for recruitment in CAPFs and Assam Rifles for Agniveers, completing four years under the Agnipath Scheme announced by the Government of India, led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi”.

"The MHA also decides to give 3 years age relaxation beyond the prescribed upper age limit to Agniveers for recruitment in CAPFs & Assam Rifles. Further, for the first batch of Agniveer, the age relaxation will be for 5 years beyond the prescribed upper age limit."

Director General of CISF, Nina Singh on Thursday announced that the organisation has finalized arrangements for recruiting ex-Agniveers. Ten per cent of constable positions have been reserved specifically for them. Ex-Agniveers will receive a relaxation in the Physical Efficiency Test, along with age concessions - five years for the initial batch and three years thereafter, as detailed by the DG.

She emphasised that CISF is committed to ensuring that ex-Agniveers derive maximum benefit from these provisions. The recruitment of ex-Agniveers is expected to bring capable, dedicated, and disciplined personnel into CISF, thereby enhancing operational efficiency. It also offers ex-Agniveers an opportunity to serve within CISF.

Other agencies such as BSF, CRPF, SSB and RPF also implemented similar provisions for ex-Agniveers the other day.