The Haryana government has significantly widened employment avenues for ex-Agniveers, introducing a 20 per cent horizontal reservation in direct recruitment to a specified set of uniformed and frontline posts, effective from 18 August 2025. The directive, issued by Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi, also prescribes 5 per cent horizontal reservation in other Group-C posts and 1 per cent in Group-B posts linked to skill specialisation.

Posts Covered Under the 20 Per Cent Reservation

The 20 per cent horizontal reservation applies to eight specific categories: Police Constable in the Home Department, Constable in the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB), Constable in the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Forest Guard, Warden in the Prisons Department, Mining Guard, Wildlife Guard, and Fire Operator-cum-Driver. These roles align closely with the training and discipline that Agniveers acquire during their four-year service tenure under the Agnipath scheme.

Category-Wise Breakdown of the Reservation

Within the 20 per cent quota, the category-wise split is: 2 per cent for deprived Scheduled Castes, 2 per cent for Other Scheduled Castes, 2 per cent for economically weaker sections, and 9 per cent for the unreserved category. The two Scheduled Caste sub-categories together account for 4 per cent of the overall reservation. For all remaining Group-C posts not covered under the 20 per cent slab, a separate 5 per cent horizontal reservation has been prescribed.

Key Exemptions for Ex-Agniveer Applicants

Ex-Agniveers applying for the eight designated posts — including Police Constable, Forest Guard, Prison Warden, Mining Guard, Wildlife Guard, and Fire Operator-cum-Driver — will be exempted from the mandatory Physical Screening Test (PST). The state has also retained an existing exemption from the Common Eligibility Test (CET) for Group-C posts, and ex-Agniveers will additionally be waived off skill-related tests for competencies they acquired during their Agnipath training. However, they will still be required to sit the written examination set by the respective recruiting agency.

Vacancy Filling When No Ex-Agniveer Is Available

The government has also addressed the procedural gap that arises when no suitable ex-Agniveer candidate is available against a reserved vacancy. In such cases, the post may be filled by a candidate from the applicable vertical reservation category, in line with prevailing provisions — ensuring that reserved points do not remain unfilled indefinitely.

Why This Matters

The Agnipath scheme, launched by the Centre in 2022, allows short-term induction of soldiers for a four-year tenure, after which only 25 per cent are retained in permanent service. The remaining 75 per cent — the ex-Agniveers — re-enter the civilian job market, often in their early twenties, with military training but limited formal civilian credentials. The scheme drew protests at its launch, with critics questioning post-service employment prospects. Haryana's expanded reservation framework is one of the more structured state-level responses to that concern, building on earlier commitments made by several BJP-governed states. Notably, this is not Haryana's first intervention — the state had previously offered reservations in certain police posts — but the current order broadens the scope considerably and formalises the category-wise distribution for the first time.