Agnipath recruits get 10% quota in BSF after four-year service
The age limit for their induction into the Border Security Force has been relaxed and they have been exempted from the Physical Efficiency Test as well.
The Union home ministry on Thursday announced a 10% quota in the Border Security Force for Agnipath recruits after they finish their four-year service, The Times of India reported on Friday.
Agniveers – as the recruits to the short-term service to the armed forces are called – will also be exempted from the Physical Efficiency Test of the Border Security Force.
On March 6, the home ministry issued a notification announcing the amendments made to the Border Security Force General Duty Cadre (Non-Gazetted) Recruitment Rules, 2015.
The amendment also states that the upper age limit for recruitment of the first batch of Agniveers in the Border Security Force can be relaxed by up to five years, and by up to three years for other batches.
MHA notifies 10% reservation for Ex Agniveers in BSF, General Duty Cadre recruitment.
— Arvind Gunasekar (@arvindgunasekar) March 10, 2023
Also Ex Agniveers exempted from Physical Efficiency Test. pic.twitter.com/ikS33IIHc9
The Agnipath scheme was announced by the government on June 14. Under this scheme, citizens aged between 17-and-a-half and 21 years will be eligible to apply for a four-year service in the military. Of these recruits, 25% will be eligible to apply as regular personnel after they complete their four-year service.
Protests had erupted against the decision as job aspirants demanded permanent recruitment under the regular process, pension and other retirement benefits, which are not part of the Agnipath scheme.
In the wake of the protests, the home ministry had said that 10% reservation for Agnipath recruits would be given in jobs offered by the home and defence ministry. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had said that the reservation will be implemented in the Indian Coast Guard and defence civilian posts, and all the 16 defence Public Sector Undertakings.
On February 27, the Delhi High Court upheld the constitutional validity of the Agnipath scheme. A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice J Subramonium Prasad had also dismissed petitions seeking the resumption of previous schemes for recruitment to the defence services.
“This court finds that the [Agnipath] scheme was made in national interest and to ensure that armed forces are better equipped,” the judges had noted. “The petitioners have no vested right to seek recruitment.”