New Delhi: As protests over the Agnipath recruitment scheme across India, several governments appeal centre to withdraw the Agnipath Scheme.
The Ministry of Home Affairs on Saturday announced that there will be 10% reserved vacancies for recruitment in CAPFs and Assam Rifles for Agniveers.
Meanwhile, the central government has announced that there will 10% of the job vacancies in the Ministry of Defence for ‘Agniveers’ meeting requisite eligibility criteria.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Kerala Chief Minister Pinaraya Vijayan requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to put the Agnipath scheme on hold and consider the apprehensions of the youth.
- The State Council of Ministers unanimously passed a resolution that Agnipath Scheme must be withdrawn.
- The 10% reservation will be implemented in the Indian Coast Guard and defence civilian posts, and all the 16 Defence Public Sector Undertakings. This reservation would be in addition to existing reservation for ex-servicemen: RMO India
- The MHA also decides to give 3 years of age relaxation beyond the prescribed upper age limit to Agniveers for recruitment in CAPFs & Assam Rifles.
- Meanwhile, MHA has also announced that for the first batch of Agniveer, the age relaxation will be for 5 years beyond the prescribed upper age limit.
- As many as 340 train services were affected due to the protests across the country.
- Several parts of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana have witnessed protests over the new military recruitment policy.
- Many Army aspirants for the armed forces are unhappy with the changes introduced under the new recruitment scheme, particularly the length of service, no pension provisions for those released early, and the 17.5 to 21-year age restriction that now makes many of them ineligible.Agitations spilt over to several districts in Bihar as youths protested by lying down on the railway tracks and blocking roads, demanding the scrapping of the scheme.
- Huge crowds gathered in the Bihar’s Chhapra, Jehanabad, Munger and Nawada areas of Bihar, demanding the withdrawal of the Agnipath scheme. A group of army aspirants protested at Bhabua Road Railway Station and blocked the tracks before setting a train on fire.
- People hit the streets in Haryana’s Palwal against the Agnipath scheme for recruitment of youths to defence services. Following this, the Police personnel deployed at the DC residence in Palwal resorted to aerial firing to warn protesters who were pelting stones at the residence.
- Several police vehicles were torched, several roadways buses were damaged in stone-pelting and the National Highway 19 was also blocked. The Police used tear gas shells and fired in the air to control the mob. Amid the protest, local authorities suspended Internet and SMS services for some time. It was withdrawn later. To keep the situation under control, Section 144 has been imposed in Palwal.
- The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the Agnipath recruitment scheme which provides an opportunity for Indian youth to serve in the regular cadre of the Armed Forces for a period of four years.
- It aims to make the Army a future-ready fighting force capable of meeting multiple challenges across the full spectrum of conflict, Indian Army Chief General Manoj Pande said on Tuesday.
- The AGNIPATH Scheme has been designed to enable a youthful profile of the Armed Forces and provide a fresh lease of ‘Josh’ and ‘Jazba’ whilst at the same time bringing about a transformational shift towards a more tech-savvy Armed Forces – which is indeed the need of the hour, the defence ministry highlighted.
- The selection will be the exclusive jurisdiction of the Armed Forces. A total of 46,000 Agniveers will be recruited this year.
- Following the anti-Agnipath protests, the Central government on Thursday extended the upper age limit for the Army recruitment scheme from 21 years to 23 years.