Agnipath Scheme
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 18: Police today foiled an attempt by army aspirants to block Jammu-Pathankot National Highway at Chadwal in Kathua district, while Congress and National Conference staged protests demanding withdrawal of Agnipath scheme.
A group of youth, who have already cleared physical and medical tests and were waiting for their written examination to join the army over the past couple of years, staged a demonstration against the new recruitment policy at Chadwal in Kathua district, officials said.
They said the protesters, chanting slogans against the scheme and the BJP, tried to block the Jammu-Pathankot highway but their attempt was thwarted by police who used mild lathicharge to chase away the protesters, some of whom indulged in stone-pelting in retaliation.
Additional forces were rushed to the scene and the situation in the area is well under control, the officials said, adding none was hurt in the minor stone-pelting incident.
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Scores of Congress activists led by youth president Uday Bhanu Chib staged a protest outside Press Club in Jammu to press for rollback of the Agnipath scheme.
“The scheme is meant for the youth of the country but they are not satisfied and are on the roads against the government which unfortunately is not listening. The youth are genuine in their concerns which need to be addressed by rolling back the scheme,” Chib told reporters.
He said Congress supports the protesting youth as the new recruits join the armed forces to serve the nation.
“The Government is playing with the sentiments and aspirations of the public. The recruitment in the armed forces on contractual basis is not acceptable,” he said, adding “any attempt to turn the Army into a private limited company will not be tolerated”.
Unveiling the scheme on Tuesday, the Government said youths between the ages of 17-and-a-half and 21 years would be inducted for four-year tenure while 25 per cent of the recruits will be retained for regular service.
The upper age limit was raised to 23 years on Thursday as the protests against the new model for enrolment of soldiers into the Army, Navy and Air Force spread. The new scheme for the recruitment of soldiers in the three services was projected by the Government as a major overhaul of the decades-old selection process to enhance the youthful profile of the three services.
In Sunderbani, Additional Spokesperson of National Conference Yashu Vardhan along with Jatinder Singh Chib, Jatin Bhat and other party workers staged protested against the proposed Agnipath scheme. Later, the protestors submitted memorandum in the SDM office saying that this action plan of contract-based recruitment in the forces is not in the interest of people of the country and the Indian Army.
Meanwhile, Decrying the Agneepath scheme as a draconian policy opposed to the interests of the youth, Harsh Dev Singh former Minister and senior AAP leader lambasted the BJP led Central Government for setting the entire nation on fire with its whimsical defense recruitment policy.
“The massive protests have broken out all across the country with unemployed youth taking the law and order in their hands. The heart wrenching incidents of clashes, riots, death and destruction in the past three days have only exposed the failure of the govt in handling the grave situation emanating from its weird policies”, stated Harsh while addressing a press conference in Jammu today.
The Polit Bureau of the CPI (M) disapproved the Agnipath scheme that does disservice to India’s national interests. Polit Bureau of the CPI (M) demands that this ‘Agnipath’ scheme be scrapped forthwith and regular recruitment into the armed forces shall be undertaken urgently.
J&K National Conference leadership including Rattan Lal Gupta Provincial President Jammu, Ajay Kumar Sadhotra Central Secretary, Liaquet Ali Central Secretary, Sheikh and others said that the BJP led union Government is playing with the future of the youth of country. They demanded that the written examination of these protesting aspirants must be conducted as per the 2020 notification and the new Agnipath scheme must be withdrawn at the earliest.
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