Under the original 2022 policy, 75 per cent of Agniveers were required to leave the armed forces after four years. With the first batch of 46,000 recruits across the Army, Navy and Air Force due to complete their tenure between late 2026 and early 2027, private security agencies had expected around 35,000 to enter the job market. Instead, the revised policy allows all Agniveers to serve for two additional years and then be enrolled as regular soldiers, subject to their willingness and meeting selection criteria.
With thousands of weapons-trained recruits earlier expected to enter the civilian workforce, the industry had drawn up plans to hire them as high-salaried ‘Guarding Officers’. All Agniveers receive basic arms training, making them an attractive pool of disciplined, technologically adept and trained personnel.
The Central Association of Private Security Industry (CAPSI) had drawn up a structured career progression framework. Rather than hiring Agniveers as conventional security guards, agencies planned to induct them as ‘Guarding Officers’, offering competitive salaries, management tracks and corporate status. CAPSI had also signed a memorandum of
understanding with Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU), under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), to provide pre-induction transition training.
“It’s good news that the government has realised the importance of retaining trained Agniveers for an extended term of two years,” said Kunwar Vikram Singh, CAPSI chairman. However, he said most private security agencies had been ready to recruit them.
“Since the government has given them an extension, we will have a meeting to redraw our plans. As we need more and more trained security professionals, we will revisit our arrangements with RRU to run special courses under the RPL scheme (Recognition of Prior Learning), upskill our existing security guards and designate them as Guarding Officers. A process is ready with us, which will be carried out in collaboration with RRU,” he said.
At its upcoming 21st Security Leadership Summit in New Delhi, CAPSI plans to announce a revised strategy using the RPL scheme in collaboration with RRU. Singh said the association would also take up the matter with the MHA, including who would bear the cost of retraining. “This matter will be discussed with the MHA and security agencies. Interested security guards should also be willing to pay for the RPL, which is expected to cost no more than ₹750 per person,” he added.
Commandant H S Chowdhary (retd), president of CAPSI’s Delhi chapter and founding member of the board of directors of the Security Sector Skill Development Council (SSSDC), said the policy change had left the industry “back to square one”.
“They would have become our brand ambassadors in every security company that adopted them,” Chowdhary said. “Now, because of the shifting policy, we will face the same acute shortage of trained personnel in the private security industry. This amendment is simply not beneficial to private security companies.”
Chowdhary said mid-tier and smaller security companies lacked the financial resources and infrastructure to train recruits in emerging threats such as anti-drone operations, digital access control and disaster response. Without Agniveers to bridge the gap, these agencies would have to rely on undertrained guards, often recruited from rural areas and given minimal on-the-job instruction.
Industry leaders warn that without government funding and infrastructure support, smaller agencies will struggle to maintain security standards. “If the government wants to implement this new scheme, it must be ready to spend money on training young boys and girls joining private security,” Chowdhary said, adding that state assistance or defence resettlement funding was essential to maintaining security standards across the country.
- Private security agencies had expected around 35,000 Agniveers to enter the job market
- Revised policy allows all Agniveers to serve for two additional years
- Recruitment plans for higher-paid ‘Guarding Officer’ roles need to be redrawn
- Agencies will revisit arrangements with Rashtriya Raksha University to upskill existing security guards and designate them as Guarding Officers
