Quota for ex-Agniveers in CAPF will not impact existing matrix, says govt. official

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)’s decision to increase the reservation of ex-Agniveers in Group C posts of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) to 50% from the current 10% will not affect the existing caste-based reservation matrix, a senior government official said. Hindu.

While recruitment in CAPFs must comply with the existing caste-based formula and not exceed the 50% limit set by the Supreme Court, there is no caste reservation in appointments in the armed forces (Army, Navy and Air Force). Agniveers are recruited by the armed forces for a period of four years.

As per existing norms, CAPFs, like other civil posts, have 15% reservation for members of Scheduled Castes (SC), 7.5% for Scheduled Tribes (ST) and 27% for Other Backward Classes (OBC).

“The modalities to implement 50% reservation for old Agniveers are still being worked out. Whether it will be a horizontal or vertical reservation is being investigated,” the official said.

As reported by HinduOn December 19, MHA announced that 50% of the Police Officer vacancies in the Border Security Force (BSF) will be reserved for ex-Agniveers. The notification stated that though they are exempt from the Physical Efficiency Test, former Agniveers will have to appear for the written exams like other regular candidates. Class X is the minimum education classification.

The Data on Police Forces 2024 report says that as of January 1, 2024, there were 5.99 lakh Constables in all CAPFs against the sanctioned strength of 6.29 lakh. The number of Police Constables recruited in CAPFs in 2023 was 56,202.

All Ex-Paramilitary Association general secretary Ranbir Singh said hundreds of young men preparing for the CAPF Constable exams would be affected by the policy as it would reduce employment opportunity.

“If the Agniveers had remained in the Army, they should have been given pension as per the old scheme. There is no such pension in the CAPFs. This will save the government billions of rupees. The training of the Army and the CAPFs is different. CAPFs are trained for crowd control and law and order measures… There is no such subject or training in the Army. Will the Agniveers be retrained? Hundreds of young Police officers in the villages are preparing for their duties. In the CAPFs, they are bound to lose with this policy. We are against this policy.” We are against it, it will deprive deserving candidates in rural areas.”

The Agnipath recruitment policy, announced in 2022, faced widespread protests and became one of the key issues of the 2024 General Election. Following the protests, MHA announced that 10% of all vacancies in CAPFs will be reserved for members of the armed forces who have completed four years of service under the Agnipath scheme and also announced age relaxation of five years in recruitment for the first batch and three years for subsequent batches.

The first batch of Agniveers will be eligible for employment in CAPFs in 2026.