Madhya Pradesh has formalised a 20% horizontal reservation for Agniveers in recruitment to five state uniformed services, directing departments to amend their recruitment rules and begin implementing the policy.
The General Administration Department has issued instructions to department heads and district collectors after the state government decided on October 12 to extend reservation benefits to Agniveers. The quota will apply to selected posts in the police, prisons, forest and commercial tax departments.
Under the notified framework, Agniveers will receive 20% horizontal reservation in recruitment for constable (general duty) and constable positions in the Special Armed Force under the home department. The provision will also cover jail guards under the prisons department, forest guards under the forest department and excise constables under the commercial tax department.
Horizontal reservation operates across the applicable categories of reservation rather than creating a separate vertical category. The policy therefore allows Agniveer candidates to receive the benefit within the existing recruitment structure and reservation framework.
The notification also sets out reservation provisions for Home Guards and ex-servicemen. For constable general duty and Special Armed Force constable recruitment, Home Guards will receive 10% reservation and ex-servicemen 5%. For jail guard and forest guard recruitment, the Home Guard quota will be 15%, while ex-servicemen will receive 5% reservation.
For excise constable recruitment, Home Guards will receive 10% reservation and ex-servicemen 5%, alongside the 20% provision for Agniveers. These allocations establish how the different categories will be accommodated in recruitment to the specified services.
The government has clarified that if an adequate number of eligible Agniveer candidates are not available, vacancies reserved for the category will be filled by other eligible candidates on merit in accordance with existing recruitment rules. This provision is intended to prevent reserved posts from remaining vacant when the required number of eligible applicants is not available.
The concerned departments have been directed to initiate amendments to their respective recruitment rules. Those changes will provide the administrative basis for applying the reservation in future recruitment exercises. The policy is intended to create employment opportunities in state uniformed services for Agniveers after completion of their tenure under the Agnipath scheme.
Implementation will therefore depend on the departments completing the rule amendments and incorporating the notified reservation structure into their recruitment processes. The General Administration Department’s directions to departments and district collectors mark the administrative step preceding that implementation.
