Haryana announces 10% reservation for Agniveers in constable, forest guard jobs

CHANDIGARH: Months ahead of the assembly polls, Haryana's BJP government announced Wednesday a 10 per cent reservation for Agniveers in the recruitment of constables, forest guards and jail wardens, along with quotas in other posts. Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini also said that the government will provide interest-free loans of up to Rs 5 lakh if any Agniveer wishes to set up their own business.

"In direct recruitment to posts of constable, mining guard, forest guard, jail warden and special police officer made by the state government, there will be a 10 per cent horizontal reservation for Agniveers," he said at a press conference here. He said that in Group C and D posts, an age relaxation of three years will also be given. "However, for the first batch of Agniveers, this age relaxation will be five years," Saini added. In direct recruitment for Group C civil posts, there will be a five per cent horizontal reservation for Agniveers, the chief minister said. He also announced sops for industrial units employing Agniveers. "If any industrial unit employs an Agniveer at a salary of more than Rs 30,000 per month, then our government will give that unit an annual subsidy of Rs 60,000," Saini said. He also announced that Agniveers will get arms licences on priority.

The Agnipath military recruitment scheme, introduced by the BJP government at the Centre in June 2022 for short-term induction of personnel in the armed forces, has faced severe criticism from several quarters, including opposition parties. In the run-up to the recently held Lok Sabha polls, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had said in Haryana's Mahendragarh that the Agniveer scheme would be scrapped and thrown in the dustbin if the opposition INDIA bloc came to power.

Soon after the scheme was announced by the Centre in June 2022, the then-chief minister of Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar had said the state government would provide guaranteed employment to Agniveers after their four-year stint in the armed forces. The Agnipath scheme provides for recruiting youths between the age bracket of 17-and-half years and 21 for four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years.