Opposition parties in Haryana criticised the Union government on Thursday and demanded the immediate rollback of Agnipath, after protests raged in the state against the new short-term military recruitment scheme.
While senior Congress leader and former Union minister Kumari Selja accused the Centre of betraying military aspirants, Indian National Lok Dal leader Abhay Chautala called the new scheme a “suicidal step”.
“The Central government of the Bharatiya Janata Party has now set its eye on the country’s army. The Agnipath scheme is a big betrayal of the youth of the country. This scheme will compromise on the efficiency, dexterity, ability and effectiveness of the forces,” said the Congress leader in a statement.
Condemning the police action against protesters including in Palwal and Rewari, she said, “The government should immediately withdraw this scheme.”
Selja further said that more than 2,55,000 posts were lying vacant in the three military forces as the government had stopped recruitment for two years. “There is a lot of restlessness among the youth and many youths of Haryana and Punjab were forced to kill themselves,” she added.
Haryana govt suspends internet in Palwal after stir turns violent pic.twitter.com/t7VNRpO6pY
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Sachin, a young man from Lijwana in Jind district who had been preparing for getting into the Army for the past two years, allegedly died by suicide in Rohtak on Thursday. His friends and family said Sachin was upset over the new policy. Police sent his body for a postmortem and initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Referring to Sachin’s death, Selja said nothing could be more painful.
“Total service in the Army including training would be only four years. There will be no gratuity or pension after four years of service. Those recruited for four years will not get the benefits of military canteens. Nor will he get any health facility. After four years of service, 75 per cent will have to go back home,” Selja said.
The Congress leader also said that such soldiers would have to take up low-paying security guard jobs. “Because, after serving in the Army for four years, they will not have any kind of employment opportunity left,” she said.
Attacking the central government further, the former Union minister said the “prime minister’s slogan of one rank, one pension” had proved to be a “jumla”. She said discrepancies in the pension scheme announced after ex-servicemen’s protests were yet to be fully addressed. The Congress leader also criticised the government’s plan to open 100 new Sainik schools in partnership mode.
Condemning the Agnipath scheme, the INLD’s Chautala said, “Exactly what was feared has begun to happen. Youths are out on roads and protesting against the Union government’s suicidal policy… Protests have erupted in Palwal, Rewari, Hisar and several other places of the state.”
The MLA for Ellenabad said that if the government was cash-strapped it should scrap the pensions of former MLAs and MPs. “The BJP government, rather than listening to the voices of lakhs of youths, has started thrashing them. Similar reports of protests are also coming from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and several other states of the country,” he alleged.
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Premium“Even several retired officers of defence forces have criticised this Agnipath policy and called it a threat to the nation’s security. It is because of the halt on regular recruitment and now this Agnipath policy that the youths are protesting on roads. If the government does not roll back this scheme, these protests will develop into a massive violent wave. The government must roll it back and relaunch the regular recruitment drive,” Chautala added.
