PremiumProtests had erupted in various parts of the country after the Centre unveiled the Agnipath scheme to recruit youngsters aged between 17-and-a-half and 21 years in the army, navy and air force, largely on a four-year contractual basis
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The Punjab assembly on Thursday passed a resolution against the Centre's Agnipath defence recruitment scheme.
Moved by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the resolution recommends to the state government to take up the matter with the Union government in order to roll back the scheme immediately.
"The unilateral announcement of the Agnipath scheme by the Government of India has witnessed widespread reactions in all states, including Punjab, " said Mann while reading the resolution.
"This policy is likely to create dissatisfaction among the youth who wish to serve the armed forces of the nation for a lifetime," he added.
It must be highlighted that more than one lakh soldiers from Punjab serve in the Armed Forces of the nation and many of them give the supreme sacrifice of their life on the borders of the country every year, he said.
"The youth of Punjab consider serving in the Indian Armed Forces as a matter of pride and honour and are renowned for their valour and courage. This scheme has crushed the dreams of many youths of Punjab who have been aspiring to join the Armed Forces as regular soldiers," said Mann.
While participating in a discussion on the resolution, Leader of Opposition and Congress legislator Partap Singh Bajwa also demanded that the Agnipath scheme should be withdrawn.
Akali MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali also supported the resolution and demanded the scheme's roll back.
The resolution was opposed by two BJP legislators – Ashwani Sharma and Jangi Lal Mahajan.
Earlier this month, Rajasthan had passed a resolution seeking the withdrawal of the scheme.
Protests had erupted in various parts of the country after the Centre unveiled the Agnipath scheme to recruit youngsters aged between 17-and-a-half and 21 years in the army, navy and air force, largely on a four-year contractual basis. It later relaxed the upper age limit for this year's recruitment to 23.
Application for Agnipath
Meanwhile, the defence ministry said on Wednesday that the Indian Air Force (IAF) has received over two lakh applications under the Agnipath recruitment scheme within six days of the launch of the registration process.
The registration process that began on 24 June had seen the filing of 94,281 applications by Monday and 56,960 applications by Sunday.