DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini Sunday said 'Agniveers' will be provided 20 per cent reservation in the police recruitment in the state.

In July 2024, months ahead of state assembly polls, the BJP government in the state had announced a 10 per cent reservation for Agniveers in the recruitment of constables, forest guards and jail wardens, along with quotas in other posts.

Chairing a review meeting in Panchkula on Sunday, Saini said Haryana is the first state in the country which has secured the future of Agniveers by creating a provision for jobs after their service period in the armed forces.

The Haryana Cabinet has already provided security cover to the Agniveers by implementing the Haryana Agniveer Policy-2024.

According to an official statement, the chief minister said Agniveers will be provided 20 per cent reservation in the recruitment of state police.

Saini said Agniveers will be able to get jobs in Haryana after their service period in the Army and for this, a separate portal will be created for them on which they can register themselves. After this, they will be given preference in jobs on the basis of educational qualification, he added.

During the meeting, officials informed Saini that 2,893 Agniveers were recruited in the Army, Navy and Air Force from Haryana during 2023-24 and 2,227 were recruited in 2022-23.

Those Agniveers from Haryana who want to adopt self-employment or entrepreneurship will be provided loans at affordable rates. Apart from this, if the industries employ Agniveers on a monthly salary of more than Rs 30,000, the government will provide an annual subsidy of Rs 60,000 to those industries, the statement said.

Those Agniveers who want to serve as private security personnel will be given priority in providing gun licences. For this, they will have to apply on the portal, it said.

Launched by the Centre in June 2022, 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.

Soon after the scheme's announcement, the then Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had said the state government would provide guaranteed employment to Agniveers after their four-year stint in the armed forces.

The Sunday's meeting was attended by Haryana Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Sumita Misra, Principal Secretary of Sainik and Paramilitary Welfare Department Vijayendra Kumar and Additional Principal Secretary to the chief minister Saket Kumar, among others.

(editor@dailyworld.in)