Army aspirants protest in Jammu over ‘cancellation’ of written test in view of Agnipath

The protesters first blocked the busy Tawi bridge and raised slogans against the government, disrupting vehicular traffic for nearly an hour in the morning. Later, they marched towards the recruitment office at the B C Road and held a demonstration outside its main entrance.

According to the protesters, they had applied for recruitment as soldiers way back in 2019 and even undergone physical and medical fitness tests. They were waiting for the written test, scheduled to be held on Thursday, which, they said, had already got cancelled from time to time during the past one-and-a-half years on account of various reasons, including Covid-19. They said that the authorities now cancelled the written exam citing the newly introduced Agnipath scheme.

“Preparing for the written test during the past one-and-a-half years, a number of us were on the verge of crossing the upper age for recruitment,’’ one of the protesters said.

“If the government had planned not to complete the recruitment process by holding the written exam, it should have informed us earlier,” another said, asking why it kept them waiting for this long.

Folloe |Agnipath Protests Live Updates

Protests against Agnipath, a “major defence policy reform” for recruitment into the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force on a short-term contractual basis, have been raging in many states, including Bihar, Haryana, New Delhi and Jharkhand. Aspirants across half a dozen districts in Bihar on Thursday blocked rail and road traffic, and also vandalised some shops and private establishments.

The Agnipath scheme is expected to make the permanent force levels leaner in the over 13-lakh strong armed forces. Most soldiers will leave the service in just four years under the Agnipath scheme. Of the 45,000 to 50,000 recruited annually, only 25 per cent will be allowed to continue for another 15 years under permanent commission.