New Delhi: The Union Home Ministry has raised the quota for recruiting ex-Agniveers as constables in the Border Security Force (BSF) to 50 per cent, up from the existing 10 per cent, according to a gazette notification.

The change has been effected through an amendment to the Border Security Force, General Duty Cadre (Non-Gazetted) Recruitment Rules, 2015.

Under the revised rules, the first batch of ex-Agniveers will be granted an upper age-limit relaxation of up to five years, while subsequent batches will receive a relaxation of three years. Ex-Agniveers will also be exempt from the Physical Standard Test and Physical Efficiency Test.

The notification stated that, through direct recruitment, “including fifty per cent”, vacancies will be reserved each year for ex-Agniveers, with 10 per cent earmarked for ex-servicemen and up to three per cent for the absorption of Combatised Constable (Tradesmen) against annual vacancies.

Recruitment will be carried out in two phases. In the first phase, the nodal force will conduct recruitment for the 50 per cent vacancies reserved for ex-Agniveers. In the second phase, the Staff Selection Commission will recruit candidates other than ex-Agniveers for the remaining 47 per cent vacancies — including the 10 per cent quota for ex-servicemen — along with any unfilled ex-Agniveer vacancies from the first phase in specific categories.

Separately, the Centre amended the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961, through a gazette notification issued in June this year, inserting a new entry under the Department of States in the Union Home Ministry to cover “coordinating activities for further progression of Ex-Agniveers” after they complete four years of service. With this amendment, responsibility for coordinating the post-service progression of ex-Agniveers has been assigned to the Home Ministry, sources said.

The Agnipath recruitment scheme was launched in June 2022 to reduce the age profile of the armed forces. Under the scheme, candidates aged between 17 and a half years and 21 are enrolled as Agniveers in the Army, Air Force and Navy for four years. Of these, 25 per cent may be retained for a further 15 years, while the remaining 75 per cent exit the services.

The government has already reserved 10 per cent of constable-level posts for ex-Agniveers in all future recruitments across the Central Armed Police Forces — including the CRPF, BSF, CISF and SSB — which together have a combined strength of around 1.1 million personnel.

The latest amendments apply specifically to the BSF, India’s border guarding force deployed along the sensitive frontiers with Pakistan and Bangladesh.

(PTI)