Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved a proposal to reserve 10 per cent of the job vacancies in Ministry of Defence for Agniveers meeting requisite eligibility criteria, an official release said on Saturday (18 June).

The 10 per cent reservation will be implemented in the Indian Coast Guard, defence civilian posts and all the 16 Defence Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).

The PSUs under the Defence Ministry are Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) Limited, Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL), Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders (MDL), Mishra Dhatu Nigam (Midhani) Limited, Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVNL), Advanced Weapons & Equipment India Ltd. (AW&EIL), Munitions India Limited (MIL), Yantra India Limited (YIL), Gliders India Limited (GIL), India Optel Limited (IOL) and Troop Comforts Limited (TCL).

This reservation would be in addition to existing reservations for ex-servicemen, the Defence Ministry said in a release.

The ministry said that necessary amendments to relevant recruitment rules will be undertaken to implement these provisions.

The DPSUs will be advised to make similar amendments to their respective recruitment rules, it added.

Necessary age relaxation provision will also be made to enable recruitment of Agniveers to the above posts, the ministry said.

It should be noted that PM Modi led Cabinet had earlier this week approved the Agnipath scheme for recruitment of youths in the Armed forces for a period of four years. The youths selected for recruitment in the tri-services under the Agnipath scheme will be known as Agniveers.