The Ministry of Home Affairs has formally rolled out the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Constable (General Duty) Recruitment Rules 2026, published in the official gazette on July 27, 2026. With gazette notification, the new rules have come into immediate effect, opening up a significant employment pathway for former Agniveers within India’s paramilitary forces.
Under the revised framework, every future recruitment drive for SSB Constable (GD) posts will set aside 50 percent of vacancies exclusively for ex-Agniveers. This means half of all seats in each recruitment cycle will be earmarked for soldiers who have completed their tenure under the Agnipath scheme. The recruitment process for these reserved posts will be conducted in the first phase by the nodal force concerned.
The remaining 50 percent of posts will be filled through an open competitive examination in the second phase, open to all eligible candidates. Notably, if any of the reserved seats for ex-Agniveers remain unfilled after the first phase, those vacancies will be rolled over and included in the second phase of open recruitment, ensuring no reserved position goes to waste.
Relaxed Eligibility Norms and Simplified Selection Process for Ex-Agniveers
To make the transition into paramilitary service smoother, the new rules significantly ease the recruitment process for former Agniveers. Eligible candidates will be exempted from the written examination, the Physical Standard Test (PST), and the Physical Efficiency Test (PET). However, they will still need to meet the requisite educational qualifications along with prescribed physical and medical standards.
On the age front, general candidates applying for the SSB Constable (GD) post must be between 18 and 23 years old. Ex-Agniveers, however, have been granted special relaxation: those from the first Agniveer batch will receive an age relaxation of up to five years, while subsequent batches of ex-Agniveers will get a three-year relaxation.
The rules have fixed 54,109 posts for SSB Constable (GD) in 2026, though this number may be revised depending on operational workload. These posts fall under Pay Matrix Level-3, carrying a salary range of Rs 21,700 to Rs 69,100. The notification also clarifies that existing central government reservation norms for various categories will continue to apply across both phases of recruitment, alongside the mandatory physical and medical eligibility standards.