Uttarakhand Reserves 10% Jobs For Agniveers, Toughens Anti-Coversion Laws
On Wednesday, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s Cabinet approved a 10 per cent horizontal reservation for Agniveers in contractual positions in government jobs.
Dehradun: In an important move, the Uttarakhand government has decided to reserve 10 per cent of its jobs for Agniveer defence personnel in the state. The Dhami government has also decided to increase the punishment under the anti-religious conversion law from 10 years to a maximum of 20 years or even life imprisonment, and to raise the fine from ₹50,000 to ₹10 lakh.
On Wednesday, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s Cabinet approved a 10 per cent horizontal reservation for Agniveers in contractual positions in government jobs. The decision comes as the first batch of Agniveer defence personnel is set to complete its service tenure and return home. This coincides with the government’s plan to fill 850 posts in various departments with Agniveers on contract.
The posts identified for accommodating Agniveers fall under the Group C category and include constables and sub-inspectors in the fire and civil police, jail police, forest guards, patwaris in the revenue department, and positions in the excise and state transport departments.
The Uttarakhand Cabinet cleared 26 proposals, most of which pertained either to Agniveers or to amendments to the state’s Anti-Conversion Law enacted in 2023. The amendments make the anti-conversion law harsher, increasing the punishment from 10 years to 14 years, with a possibility of up to 20 years in certain cases. The fine for offences under the law has been raised from the earlier ₹50,000 to ₹10 lakh.
Officials in the home department said the Dhami Cabinet has also amended and broadened the definitions of several terms mentioned in the Anti-Conversion Act. “This will help enforcement agencies to identify individuals or organisations engaged in illegal religious conversions more easily and bring them to justice,” said an official on condition of anonymity, as these cabinet decisions cannot be made public immediately before the upcoming Assembly session.
However, the Cabinet decisions will be subject to ratification by the state legislature. The approved amendments will be tabled in the House during the upcoming Assembly session at the state’s summer capital, Gairsain.
