The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has proposed to increase the reservation ratio of former Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) recruits from 10% to 50%, and exempt them from written test and physical aptitude test, according to a CISF circular issued on Monday.
The CISF circular, seen by HT, said that recruitment rules are reviewed every five years. On March 6, the MHA instructed the CISF to review the employment condition of the former Agniveers. On Monday, the CISF circulated the revised recruitment rules, which include the MHA proposal, for stakeholder feedback. Certainly the rules have not yet been notified.
“50% of the vacancies shall be reserved for ex-servicemen for recruitment to the post of Constable (General Duty) in every recruitment year,” the circular, detailing the proposed changes, said.
In the first phase, recruitment will be conducted by the nodal force to fill 50% of the vacancies reserved for ex-Agniveers or as per instructions issued by the MHA from time to time, the circular said. She added that in the second phase, recruitment will take place “through open screening according to the current provisions against the remaining 50% of the vacancies in addition to the vacant vacancies in the first phase or the first phase or according to the instructions issued by the Ministry of Health from time to time.”
The proposed changes also include exempting former Agniveers players from the written test, Physical Standards Test (PST) and Physical Efficiency Test (PET). In a notification dated 16 March 2023 allocating 10% of the vacancies to ex-Agniveers members, only they were exempted from PST.
The move comes at a time when the first batch of around 2,600 soldiers, which was inducted into the Navy in November 2022, is likely to retire later this year and become eligible to join the various Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs).
So far, the Border Security Forces have only announced the reservation of 50% of former Afghan Armed Forces personnel, while other forces have reserved 10% of vacancies for former soldiers in the short-term recruitment scheme. Some state police forces, including those in Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan, have also announced bookings for former Agnivers.
India had announced the launch of the Agneepath scheme for short-term recruitment into the armed forces on June 14, 2022. Under the Agneepath scheme, soldiers are recruited for only four years, with the provision of retaining 25% of them in the regular cadre for 15 years after another round of screening.
