The Haryana council of ministers approved amendments to the state’s policy to facilitate the rehabilitation and gainful employment of ex-Agniveers.
An official spokesperson said ex-Agniveers will be exempted from all types of examinations prescribed for direct recruitment to Group C posts covered under the policy.
These posts were recently included under the state’s ex-Agniveer reservation policy. The upgradation will bring the post in line with similar positions in other departments, such as forest guard in the forest department, warder in the prisons department and police constable in the home department, which are classified as Group-C posts. Recruitment to Group-C posts involves multiple stages of selection beyond the CET, enabling an appropriate mechanism for assessing candidates while implementing the state’s policy for ex-Agniveers. The decision provides increased support to eligible journalists and their dependents during illness, demise, accidents, or other emergencies.
The council of ministers also granted an in-principle nod for upgrade of the post of mining guard in the mines and geology department from Group-D (direct level) to Group-C (FPL-2). The council approved continuing the 6th State Finance Commission’s recommendations for fund devolution to rural and urban local bodies from the 2026-27 financial until the 7th commission submits its report, an official spokesperson said. Under the framework, 7% of the state’s own tax revenue (SOTR) will be devolved to local bodies. Fund distribution for gram panchayats and urban local bodies relies on 80% weightage for population and 20% for area. For zila parishads and panchayat samitis, distribution uses Parivar Pehchan Patra population data as of December 31 annually. Inter-se distribution among gram panchayats, panchayat samitis, and zila parishads remains at 75:15:10, respectively. Local bodies may use up to 30% of devolved funds for street paving, the spokesperson said. The council of ministers approved independent departmental status for the Citizen Resource Information Department (CRID) under the Business of the Haryana Government (Allocation) Rules, 1974. An amendment to the Haryana Media Personnel Welfare Fund Administration Scheme enhanced the maximum emergency financial assistance for eligible media personnel from ₹ 2.50 lakh to ₹ 5 lakh, fulfilling a 2026–27 budget announcement made by the chief minister.
The decision aims to facilitate the implementation of reservation and other benefits notified by the state government for ex-Agniveers in recruitment to government posts, the spokesperson said. An official spokesperson said the council also approved bringing Haryana State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (HARTRON) under CRID’s administrative control to streamline related functions and ensure greater administrative efficiency. The spokesperson said the decision was taken considering the scale and nature of responsibilities handled by CRID, which oversees e-governance and digital services and administers the Haryana Parivar Pehchan Authority, the Haryana Space Applications Centre and DRISHYA.
