New Delhi: On June 14, the Central Government announced the Agneepath Recruitment Scheme, which aims to recruit a large number of young people for all three branches of the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force. The youth will be required to serve in the Defense Force for four years under this scheme. It is believed that the government took this action to reduce the salary and pension budget.
Protests against the ‘Agnipath’ scheme erupted on Thursday in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Haryana, with hundreds of angry Army aspirants and others burning tyres and disrupting rail and road traffic, demanding that the scheme be scrapped. Protesters also set fire to a train at the Bhabua Road railway station.
The agitation began after the Centre announced the scheme on Tuesday, which calls for the recruitment of jawans on a contractual basis for four years, followed by compulsory retirement for the majority of them without gratuity or pension benefits. Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, has urged the union government to give young people the opportunity to serve their country for the rest of their lives, not just for four years.
On Thursday, hundreds of angry Army aspirants and others protested the ‘Agnipath’ scheme in Bihar, burning tyres and disrupting rail and road traffic in several parts of the state. Protesters in the Kaimur district blocked railway tracks and set fire to a train at Bhabua Road railway station. On Thursday, at least three trains were set on fire in Bihar as protests against the Centre’s Agnipath recruitment scheme turned violent in the districts of Chhapra, Gopalganj, and Kaimur.
Several aspirants for the armed forces are dissatisfied with the changes made under the new Indian Army recruitment scheme, particularly the length of service, the lack of pension provisions for those released early, and the 17.5 to 21-year age restriction, which now makes many of them ineligible.
Earlier in the day, hundreds of youth gathered in the districts of Nawada, Jehanabad, and Munger to protest the recruitment scheme.
A large crowd gathered in Nawada to protest. Protesters vented their rage by burning tyres on the roads and shouting anti-scheme slogans.
On Wednesday, more than 100 young men stormed the railway station and squatted on the tracks, preventing the Patna-bound Janshatabdi Express from continuing its journey for nearly 30 minutes in the Buxar district.
Protests against the ‘Agnipath’ recruitment scheme have also begun in some Uttar Pradesh districts. According to reports, students blocked the GT road in Bulandshahr and chanted slogans demanding that the scheme that calls for the recruitment of soldiers on a short-term contractual basis be scrapped. Protesters also delivered a letter to the district magistrate.
Students demonstrated in Gonda, carrying placards and shouting anti-scheme slogans.
The protest spread to the state’s Unnao city, where students and unemployed youth demanded that recruitment be done the traditional way rather than through a short-term contract.
On that day, hundreds of young people took to the streets in Haryana to protest the ‘Agnipath’ scheme. Protesters took to the streets in Gurugram’s Bilaspur and Sidhrawali areas, as well as Rewari, about 50 kilometres away. They shut down bus stops and roads, causing gridlock on the Gurugram-Jaipur highway, and staged a protest at Bilaspur Chowk.
Police officers stationed at the DC residence in Palwal used aerial fire to warn protesters who were pelting stones at the residence in protest of the ‘Agnipath’ scheme.
During the protest against the new recruitment scheme in Palwal, incidents of stone-pelting and lathicharge were reported. According to the report, the enraged protesters set fire to tyres on the national highway as well as at least three police vehicles.
A large number of Army aspirants protested the scheme at the Gaggal airport in Himachal Pradesh ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit.
On Tuesday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh unveiled the ‘Agnipath’ scheme for the recruitment of soldiers in the Army, Navy, and Air Force, primarily on a short-term contractual basis, with the goal of reducing the nation’s ballooning salary and pension bill.
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