Agnipath row: Akhilesh Yadav says move ‘fatal’ for country’s future; Mayawati asks Centre to reconsider scheme

As announced, ‘Agnipath’ or ‘Agniveer’ is a scheme for recruiting soldiers in the Army, Navy and Air force, to be hired for a term of four years on contract. The new defence recruitment reform, which has been cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security, will come into effect immediately, and the soldiers recruited under the scheme will be called Agniveers.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav Thursday hit out at the central government calling the move “negligent” and potentially “fatal” for the country’s future.

“The security of the country is not a short-term or informal issue; it expects a very serious and long-term policy. The negligent attitude that is being adopted regarding military recruitment will prove to be fatal when it comes to the protection of the future of the country and the youth,” Akhilesh said in a tweet.

देश की सुरक्षा कोई अल्पकालिक या अनौपचारिक विषय नहीं है, ये अति गंभीर व दीर्घकालिक नीति की अपेक्षा करती है। सैन्य भर्ती को लेकर जो ख़ानापूर्ति करनेवाला लापरवाह रवैया अपनाया जा रहा है, वो देश और देश के युवाओं के भविष्य की रक्षा के लिए घातक साबित होगा।
‘अग्निपथ’ से पथ पर अग्नि न हो।

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) June 16, 2022

Meanwhile, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati termed the scheme as “unfair towards rural youth”. “Even though it has been called an attractive scheme, the youths of the country are dissatisfied and angry. They are openly opposing the change in army recruitment system,” Mayawati said in a tweet in Hindi.

“They believe that the government is limiting the soldiers’ tenure to four years in order to eliminate pension benefits in the army and government jobs, which is grossly unfair and deleterious to the future of rural youth and their families,” Mayawati said.

3. देश में लोग पहले ही बढ़ती गरीबी, महंगाई, बेरोजगारी एवं सरकार की गलत नीतियों व अहंकारी कार्यशैली आदि से दुःखी व त्रस्त हैं, ऐसे में सेना में नई भर्ती को लेकर युवा वर्ग में फैली बेचैनी अब निराशा उत्पन्न कर रही है। सरकार तुरन्त अपने फैसले पर पुनर्विचार करे, बीएसपी की यह माँग।

— Mayawati (@Mayawati) June 16, 2022

Mayawati said that the people in the country were already afflicted by rising poverty, inflation, unemployment, wrong policies, and the arrogant working style of the government, and in such a situation, “the uneasiness spread among the youth regarding new recruitment system in the army is causing anxiety.”

BJP MP Varun Gandhi, too, questioned various provisions of the ‘Agnipath’ scheme and said it will give rise to more disaffection among the youths and asked the government to make its stand clear. Gandhi addressed a letter to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and said that the young population has shared their questions and doubts with him about the radical changes in the soldiers’ recruitment process which also proposes that the 75 per cent of the recruits under the scheme will retire after four years of service without pension.

As 75 per cent of soldiers will become “unemployed” after four years and their total numbers will keep rising every year, it will give a rise to more disaffection among the youth, Gandhi said. Gandhi asked what will be the prospects for these retired soldiers when the corporate sector does not show much interest in hiring even the regular military personnel who retire after 15 years.

In Bihar, aspirants across half a dozen districts in Bihar Thursday blocked rail and road traffic and also vandalised some shops and private establishments to protest against Agnipath, the central government’s new recruitment policy for the defence forces. Protesters have been demanding the reinstatement of the previous recruitment system.