Agneepath: Why are Army aspirants protesting against Agnipath scheme? The government will offer generous terms to those who join the armed forces.
New Delhi: The Agnipath scheme is grossly unfair and detrimental to the future of rural youth and their families, BSP chief Mayawati said on Thursday, demanding that the Centre must reconsider it. In a series of tweets in Hindi, Mayawati said the youth of the country believe that the scheme is aimed at curtailing the service duration in order to deprive them of several monetary benefits, including the pension system. She said the people of the country are already hit by poverty, inflation, and unemployment caused by the government's policies. "In such a situation, the uneasiness spread among the youth regarding the new recruitment system in the army is causing anxiety," she tweeted.
What is Agnipath scheme? What is Agniveer?
The government earlier this week rolled out the Agnipath scheme to recruit soldiers for the Army, Navy and Air Force. The main goals behind launching the scheme are to lower the age profile of the armed forces and stem the ballooning pension bills. The scheme was launched as more money was being spent on salaries and pensions than on the much-needed modernisation of the armed forces. Under the scheme, youth aged between 17.5 years to 21 years will be recruited directly from educational institutions or via recruitment rallies. They will be recruited under a contract. They will be subjected to a 6-month rigorous training regime and 3.5 years of active service. After four years of being in the armed forces, only 25 percent of the most driven and best performing soldiers will be offered to extend their stay with the forces for 15 years. These soldiers will be called Agniveers. The government plans to recruit around 40,000 soldiers via the new system.
The government will offer generous terms to those who join the armed forces. Apart from a decent salary, reportedly around Rs 40,000 per month during the fourth year of service, the government will also add to the corpus of fund that would provide a severance of around Rs 11 lakh at the time of exit. Soldiers will contribute around 30 per cent of their salaries for the corpus and the government will deposit an equal amount. The government will also help the soldiers secure education loans. The Ministry of Home Affairs has said it will give preference to Agniveers while recruiting for Central Armed Police Forces. Many BJP-led states have also made similar promises. The downside for the recruits will be that they will not get any pension like before. Secondly, for 75 percent of the recruits, it would be the end of the road as far as the armed forces are concerned.
Why are Army aspirants protesting against the Agnipath scheme?
Thousands of young men and women who aspired to join the armed forces have come out on the streets in Bihar against the Agnipath scheme. Their agitation entered the second day on Thursday. They disrupted railway and road traffic in Jehanabad, Buxar and Nawada districts. Hundreds of agitators blocked National Highway 83 in Jehanabad and burned tyres demanding the scrapping of the scheme.
The protesters are miffed with the Agnipath scheme as the new age restriction will bar many from recruitment rallies. Under the old system, young men aged 16.5-21 were selected for a minimum of 15 years. After their retirement, they would receive pension. The new system completely overhauls the old system. Now they can be recruited between the ages of 17.5-21. The length of service will be limited to 4 years for most of the recruits.
"We demand that the recruitment be done as it used to be done earlier. Tour of Duty (ToD) be rolled back and exams be held as earlier. Nobody will go to the Army for just four years," a protester in Munger told the news agency ANI.
In Jehanabad, another protester said, "Where will we go after working for only four years? We will be homeless after four years of service. So we have jammed the roads. We work hard to get inducted into the Armed forces. How will the service be for four years, with months of training and leaves? How will we protect the nation after getting trained for just three years? The government has to take back this scheme".
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 "Protest against Agnipath explained: Mayawati attacked the Centre over the Angiveer plan. (File)")
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