Notification for Agniveers: Union Ministry Announces Reservation

Union Ministry rings the notification for announcing 10 percent reservations for former Agniveers in vacancies in the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). This came up only after a week of announcing 10 percent reservations of Agniveers in the Border Security Force (BSF).

The amendment in the rules was made under the Central Industrial Security Force Act, 1968, (50 of 1968). This reservation will act as a backup career for Agniveers in case they are not recruited on regular basis in the Army.

Notification said…

The notification also mentioned the relaxation that the government will be providing, with respect to the upper age limit. It will however depend if they were part of the first batch or further batches of Agniveers. For candidates in the first batch of former Agniveers and for candidates in other batches, the upper age limit may be relaxed by up to five years. In addition to this, ex-Agniveers will be exempted from the physical efficiency test as they are trained by the Indian Army.

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Agniveers explained

The ambitious Agneepath program, which the Center revealed on June 14 of last year, aims to enlist young people between the ages of 17 and 21 in the Army, Navy, and Air Force, mostly through four-year short-term contracts. The people hired through the scheme are referred to as Agniveers. 25% of the trainees from each batch will be given regular duty after their four-year term is up. At that time, the home ministry had declared that 10% of openings in the Assam Rifles and central paramilitary forces would be set aside for demobilized 75% of Agniveers.

The age range for paramilitary force recruitment is 18 to 23 years. Under the Agnipath system, those who enlist even at the upper age restriction of 21 years are eligible for recruitment by the CISF until the age of 30 following four years of service in the Army, Air Force, or Navy for the first batch, and until the age of 28 for successive batches.

The Border Security Force likewise underwent a modification of this nature. The decision by the home ministry to integrate former Agniveers into paramilitary forces is significant because it will give them access to career prospects until retirement age. The paramilitary forces will also profit since they will have access to a trained workforce to fill more than 84,800 positions.