Agnipath scheme: Samyukt Kisan Morcha demands rollback, nationwide campaign from Sunday

A nationwide campaign to demand the withdrawal of the Centre’s Agnipath military recruitment scheme will be kicked off by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Sunday. The umbrella organisation of over 40 farm unions will launch the campaign in collaboration with various youth organisations and the United Front of ex-Servicemen.

The first step in the campaign against Agnipath Scheme will involve a "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan" conference from August 7 to 14, Swaraj India president Yogendra Yadav informed on Saturday.  

"This campaign aims to educate the public about the disastrous consequences of the controversial Agnipath scheme and compel the Centre, by using democratic, peaceful and constitutional means, to roll it back.

"If the (three) farm laws were dire, the Agnipath scheme is disastrous. With our farmers and soldiers in distress, the backbone of our nation is in danger of being broken. Our silence cannot be the reason for the government to bulldoze and destroy the protectors and feeders of the nation. We have stopped them once, we can stop them again," Yadav said at a media briefing.

Haryana’s Jind, Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura and West Bengal capital Mathura will see some of the campaign’s first major events on Sunday, Yadav added. 

Then events will be held in Haryana’s Rewari and UP’s Muzaffarnagar on August 9, followed by events in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore and UP’s Meerut on August 10 and Bihar capital Patna on August 11.

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(With inputs from PTI)