Delhi To Explore Inducting Retired Agniveers Into Vacant Fire Services

New Delhi:  In a major administrative move to revamp emergency response infrastructure, the Delhi government is actively exploring a proposal to induct former Agniveers into the heavily understaffed Delhi Fire Service (DFS). The strategy was formally introduced during a high-level meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA).

The crucial meeting, chaired by Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu, was attended by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, Home Minister Ashish Sood, and other top administrative and police brass. The proposal comes on the heels of the tragic Malviya Nagar fire incident at a local bed-and-breakfast that claimed 22 lives, exposing severe regulatory lapses and an acute personnel crunch within the capital’s primary firefighting agency.  

Official data placed before the DDMA revealed that out of 3,633 sanctioned posts within the DFS, a staggering 1,030 vacancies remain unfilled, with the core operational teams taking the hardest hit. To swiftly resolve this shortfall,

the Lieutenant Governor suggested leveraging the rigorous physical training and discipline of ex-Agniveers—military personnel completing their four-year short-service commissions in the Indian Armed Forces.  Under the proposed framework, which aligns with central guidelines reserving a 10% quota for former Agniveers across various security forces, the Delhi administration plans to reserve 10% of forthcoming firefighting vacancies specifically for these veterans, particularly targeting ground-level fireman roles.Beyond recruitment, the DDMA directed a strict enforcement of Section 32 of the Delhi Fire Services Act, making preventive safety mechanisms mandatory for all multi-story buildings across the capital. Pulling up fire officials for failing to issue timely compliance notices, the leadership warned that administrative laxity would directly dent annual performance evaluations.

The systematic onboarding of disciplined ex-military personnel is projected to drastically reduce emergency response times across Delhi's 71 operational fire stations.