From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: A Congress delegation, led by its Rajya Sabha opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, on Monday marched to the Rashtrapati Bhawan from the Parliament House to petition President Ram Nath Kovind to exercise his constitutional powers to stall the Agnipath recruitment scheme in the Armed Forces.
Though the march was to protest against mistreatment of the parliamentarians by Delhi police while peacefully protesting against party leader Rahul Gandhi’s questioning by the Enforcement Directorate, the leaders carried the banners in support of the country’s youth opposing the Agnipath scheme.
They told the President to step in to stop the Centre’s Agnipath scheme for 4-year recruitment into the defence forces that has sparked massive protests in several parts of the country. They complained that the government was putting defence of the country at great risk by indulging in the short-term recruitment of the soldiers and ruining the career of the youth who will be jobless at the prime of their age on retirement after just 4 years.
Earlier in the day, the Congress functionaries and leaders staged a “Satyagrah” at Jantar Mantar here for the second day on Monday while their youth workers disrupted traffic in the Connaught Circus for hours.
Meanwhile, Bharat Bandh, the countrywide shutdown to protest against Agnipath scheme, led to traffic snarls in Delhi and NCR besides fierce demonstrations in parts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
The Railway Ministry said over 500 trains were cancelled on Monday as a precautionary move to protect the railway property from arson and rioting going on for the past five days.
In Punjab, the epicentre of armed forces aspirants, heavy security was deployed in Jalandhar railway station. In Jharkhand, schools were ordered to remain shut and the ongoing examinations of Classes IX and XI have been postponed.
The resentment against the government’s latest initiative can be gauged by the steady outpour of protests across the country. In Haryana, demonstrations were witnessed in several districts, notably in Rohtak and Fatehabad, where disillusioned job aspirants blocked the Lal Batti Chowk. Security was beefed up in several States including Kerala, Telangana, West Bengal, and Rajasthan.
The Centre has, however, refused to budge, declaring that Agnipath will be the only route for induction in the Armed Forces below the rank of the commissioned officer and that too for only four years, including six months of training. Grave concerns are expressed over the future of the soldiers so recruited as 75% of them will retire after four years without pension or gratuity benefits.
