The 170 cm height issue that ex-Agniveers would face for CAPF job
Under the Agnipath scheme, the government has kept a minimum height for male aspirants of 157.5 cm in the Indian Army, 152.5 cm in the Indian Air Force and 157 cm in the Indian Navy. However, the CAPFs require a minimum of 170 cm of height in the general category for male cadets while 157 cm for woman cadets.
FollowThe Centre has made it clear that no additional relaxation would be given to Agniveers in height standard for the recruitment in the Central Armed Police Forces after they complete the mandatory four-year tenure under the Agnipath scheme in the Indian defence forces.
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In a written reply to BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi's queries, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said that the relaxation in the minimum height criteria for the recruitment of ex-Agniveers will be given as per their respective categories, including Scheduled Tribes from general areas, northeast region and left-wing extremism affected districts across the country.
The Agniveer aspirants have been raising this issue through various social media platforms.
Under the Agnipath scheme, the government has kept a minimum height for male aspirants of 157.5 cm in the Indian Army, 152.5 cm in the Indian Air Force and 157 cm in the Indian Navy. However, the CAPFs require a minimum of 170 cm of height in the general category for male cadets while 157 cm for woman cadets.
Atul Pal, an Agniveer aspirant, said, "What will happen to those aspirants who have less than 170 cm height? After spending four years tenure as Agniveer, where would they go since the CAPFs and most of the states police do not recruit cadets less than 170 cm height?"
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In reply to another question of Shushil Kumar Modi regarding provisions of reservation in the recruitment of Agniveers in the CAPFs, Rai said 10 per cent horizontal reservation would be given to Ex-Agniveers for the post of Constable (GD)/Rifleman when the first batch of Ex-Agniveers is available for recruitment after completing engagement period of four years in Defence Forces.
The Union minister also said that the 10 per cent reservation to be given to Agniveers in the recruitment to posts of constables in central armed police forces would not affect the 50 per cent ceiling kept by the Supreme Court.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Narendra Modi government had announced the Agnipath scheme for the recruitment of youths aged between 17-and-a-half years and 21 years in the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, for a four-year term, on June 14 in the national capital.
After the completion of the four-year tenure, 25 per cent of them will be retained in the services for the regular jobs.
Just after the announcement of the scheme, the defence job seekers thronged the streets and engaged in violent protests nationwide. The government had to announce a slew of measures in the scheme in an effort to pacify the agitated youths.
