Haryana sets aside 10% quota for Agniveers

New Delhi: Haryana's BJP government announced on Wednesday plans to implement a 10 per cent reservation for Agniveers in various government recruitments ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls. Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said Agniveers will get quotas in positions such as constables, forest guards, jail wardens, and other civil posts.

Additionally, Saini disclosed that Agniveers will enjoy a relaxation of three years in the upper age limit for recruitment in Group B and Group C civil posts. For the inaugural batch of Agniveers, this age relaxation will be extended to five years, he added. The government will also allocate five per cent reservation for Agniveers in Group C direct recruitments and one per cent in Group B, which includes gazetted posts.

During a press conference, Chief Minister Saini said, "In direct recruitment for constable, mining guard, forest guard, jail warden, and special police officer positions by the state government, there will be a horizontal reservation of 10 per cent for Agniveers." He further announced financial incentives, stating, "Any industrial unit hiring an Agniveer at a salary exceeding Rs 30,000 per month will receive an annual subsidy of Rs 60,000 from the government."

Highlighting other benefits under the Agnipath scheme, Saini assured that Agniveers taking loans up to Rs 5 lakh for business startups would not incur interest charges. He criticised the Opposition Congress for misinformation about the military recruitment scheme, asserting that the Agnipath initiative was introduced in public interest.

Further, Saini pledged priority issuance of arms licenses to Agniveers and emphasised their preferential treatment in the matrix scoring system for employment in government departments, boards, or corporations.

The Agnipath scheme, launched by the BJP government at the Centre in June 2022, has faced criticism, particularly from Opposition parties. In the context of the recently held Lok Sabha elections, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had vowed to scrap the scheme if the Opposition came to power in Haryana's Mahendragarh constituency.

Previously, in 2022, former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had assured guaranteed employment for Agniveers after their four-year tenure in the armed forces under the Agnipath scheme. This initiative targets youths aged between 17 and a half to 21 years, with provisions allowing for retention of 25 percent of recruits for an additional 15 years.