Cabinet clears 71 more fast-track courts
NEW DELHI, Nov 4: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved an additional two-year engagement period for 75 per cent of Agniveers not selected for regular service after their initial tenure, opening an extended pathway for their eventual enrolment as regular soldiers, subject to willingness and fulfilment of prescribed selection criteria.
Under the revised arrangement, 25 per cent of Agniveers will continue to be offered regular employment on merit, as envisaged under the Agnipath scheme. The remaining 75 per cent will get an opportunity to serve for another two years, after which they may be considered for enrolment as regular soldiers.
The extended engagement will carry higher remuneration, an enhanced Seva Nidhi package and seniority benefits.
The decision follows an assessment of the Agnipath scheme after four years of implementation and feedback from the Defence Forces on the performance of Agniveers. The Government said the recruits had demonstrated high levels of physical fitness, motivation, skills and technological adaptability.
The additional engagement provision was approved on the recommendations of the Defence Forces to balance the aspirations of Agniveers with organisational requirements.
In another major decision, the Cabinet approved the continuation of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) for another five years, from April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2031, with a financial outlay of Rs 3,788.04 crore.
The number of courts hearing rape and cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act will be increased from 779 to 850, with 71 additional courts proposed across States and Union Territories.
Of the total outlay, the Centre will contribute Rs 2,353.15 crore, while States and Union Territories will bear Rs 1,434.89 crore. The Central share will be funded through the Nirbhaya Fund.
Each court will have a dedicated judicial officer, a Special Public Prosecutor and six support staff to facilitate speedy disposal of pending cases. The scheme also provides for Vulnerable Witness Deposition Centres and child-friendly court spaces to enable victims to record their testimonies in a safe environment.
Launched on October 2, 2019, the scheme has seen participation from 29 States and Union Territories. Its 779 functional courts, including 399 exclusive POCSO courts, have disposed of 4,02,457 cases since inception, according to official figures.
The Cabinet also approved a series of schemes involving a combined outlay of over Rs 21,685 crore to strengthen energy infrastructure, promote domestic processing of critical minerals and modernise the country’s statistical system.
The biggest allocation of Rs 14,500 crore was approved as viability gap funding for developing 92 GWh of grid-scale energy storage capacity between 2026-27 and 2030-31. The projects are expected to attract investments of around Rs 97,600 crore.
The scheme envisages developing 60 GWh of Hydro Pumped Storage capacity, 30 GWh of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and 2 GWh through alternative storage technologies. It aims to help the country meet its projected requirement of 411 GWh of storage capacity by 2031-32. Battery storage projects will be required to meet a minimum domestic content requirement of 40 per cent.
The Cabinet also approved a Rs 2,814-crore capital expenditure support scheme to promote domestic processing of critical minerals, particularly lithium and nickel, over five years.
The scheme will provide a capital subsidy of 30 per cent of eligible investment for setting up four processing plants, including two lithium plants with a minimum capacity of 30 kilotonnes each and two nickel plants with a minimum capacity of 50 kilotonnes each.
It will also facilitate the recovery of cobalt as a by-product of nickel processing and reduce dependence on imports of refined mineral products and high-purity materials.
Another approval was the Viksit Bharat Initiative for Statistical Transformation, Analytics and Research (VISTAR), a Central Sector Scheme with an outlay of Rs 4,371.10 crore for 2026-27 to 2030-31.
The initiative aims to modernise the country’s official statistical system through real-time data collection, digitalisation, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Under VISTAR, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation plans to conduct 59 surveys during the 16th Finance Commission cycle, compared with 43 major surveys conducted previously. The scheme will also support States and Union Territories in strengthening statistical capabilities and generating district-level estimates.
It further provides for the eighth Economic Census to collect detailed information on non-farm establishments and workers up to the Gram Panchayat and ward levels.
