DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

The Haryana Cabinet on Monday approved a policy aimed at providing employment and entrepreneurship opportunities to Agniveers after completion of their service in the armed forces.

The Haryana Agniveer Policy, 2024, offers benefits in government recruitment, including a 10 per cent horizontal reservation for Agniveers in direct recruitment for positions such as constable, mining guard, forest guard and prison warder.

The decision taken in the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini came ahead of the assembly polls in Haryana and amid a fresh spotlight on the Agnipath recruitment scheme for short-term induction of personnel in the Army, Navy and Air Force.

The policy also offers a five per cent horizontal reservation for Group C posts and a one per cent horizontal reservation for Group B posts in line with Agniveers' skill specializations, Saini said. Last month, the BJP government in Haryana made announcements about providing employment to former Agniveers.

In Group C and D posts, the government had announced a three-year relaxation in the upper age limit for such candidates. However, this age relaxation would be five years for the first batch of Agniveers.

Saini said former Agniveers would receive priority for gun licenses, provided they fulfil conditions set out in the Arms Act, preference in deployment through the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam Limited (HKRNL), and interest-free loans for up to three years for a principal amount of up to Rs 5 lakh to start their own businesses.

In 2022-23, a total of 1,830 Agniveers were selected from Haryana while in 2023-24 as many as 2,215 were recruited.

In another decision, the Cabinet also gave ex post facto approval to the criteria for the exclusion of persons within the Backward Classes from the creamy layer in Haryana.

The annual income limit of the creamy layer of Backward Classes in the state has been increased from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh and the criteria for assessment will be in accordance with Central government norms, according to an official release.

At the meeting, the Cabinet also accepted the report of the Haryana Backward Classes Commission outlining the proportion of reservations for Backward Classes Block B sub-category in municipalities and Panchayati Raj Institutions.

The reservation for the sub-category would be implemented based on the recommendations of the commission. Currently, the Backward Classes Block A population in the state is 18.93 per cent and that of Block B is 15.05 per cent.
(editor@dailyworld.in)