From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: The youths waiting sans recruitment in the Armed Forces for the past two years erupted into protests across the country within days of the government trying to fool them with jobs for just four years under ‘Agnipath’ scheme as the realisation of the gimmick descended on no time.
Most of those hitting the streets with protests are those who were preparing to join the Armed Forces but they will get no opportunity in the Armed Forces because of the age limit of maximum 21 years under the scheme launched without any consultations with the political parties or the Armed Forces personnel.
At a joint press conference here Thursday evening, senior Congress leaders P Chidambaram, Ajay Maken, Sachin Pilot and Pawan Khera hailed the youths’ realisation. The scheme envisages 4-year employment in the Armed forces to 10 crore in the three defence forces in the next 18 months.
As aspirants disrupted rail and road traffic in several parts of Rajasthan, Bihar, Haryana, New Delhi, Jammu and Jharkhand, the government tried to back the scheme with the release of a document on “Myths vs Facts” and slamming the opposition supporting the protesters
The Congress leaders asserted that what Prime Modi has opened the forum is to recruit just 46,000 and not 10 crore. They also cited the retired defence personnel and the serving officers’ unanimous reservation against the scheme that may destroy the country’s defence blatantly.
They agreed with the defence personnel that there is no guarantee that the soldiers recruited under the scheme will be better trained an motivated to defend the country. What is this short training and short service, they asked.
Their first concern is that the Agnipath soldiers will be trained for six months and serve for another 42 months before 75% of them are discharged. A mockery of training to induct into the defence forces and ill-trained and ill-motivated soldiers, the said.
The age of recruitment fixed between 17 and 21 years means large part of the youths will be totally excluded from serving the defence forces. The stated objective of saving on the pension bill is a weak argument while short 6-month training and short service will have negative consequences on quality, efficiency and effectiveness, the Congress leaders said.
They urged the Prime Minister to immediately keep the scheme in abeyance, heeding the warning of the defence officers that the scheme will jeopardise the principle of the fighting soldiers take pride in their units, willing to lay down life for the country and must be capable of exhibiting leadership.
The Congress leaders said the announcements by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Education on post-discharge opportunities appear to be after-thoughts. They show that the scheme was poorly conceived and hastily drawn up. A major change in the mode of recruitment should have been examined thoroughly and a pilot scheme should have been tried and tested. Nothing of that sort has been done, they stressed.
“Given the situation on our borders, it is imperative that we have soldiers in our defence forces who are young, well-trained, motivated, happy, satisfied and assured of their future. The Agnipath scheme does not advance any of these objectives,” the Congress leaders said.
They said: “It is our duty to warn the country of the consequences of a hastily drawn up scheme. We would urge the government to keep the Agnipath scheme in abeyance, hold wide consultations with serving and retired officers, and address the issues of quality, efficiency and economy without compromising on any of the three considerations.”
