NEW DELHI, Jun 17 (NNN-PTI) – Violent protests continued in several parts of India, including Delhi, today, against the newly-announced recruitment scheme “Agnipath,” in the armed forces. The agitated protesters set trains on fire at many places in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
More than 50 students assembled outside the ITO Metro Station in central Delhi, protesting against the new recruitment scheme, even as the security personnel struggled to remove them.
The protests have been going on for the past three days. The protesters allege several flaws in the new recruitment scheme, mainly the age bracket of 17-and-a-half years to 21 years, and the fact that, 75 percent of the recruits would be removed from service after four years, as per the scheme’s provisions.
TV reports showed trains set on fire in Bihar state’s Kulharia, Danapur, Aara Samastipur, Supaul, Lakhisarai and Muzaffarpur areas, and Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia and Sikandrabad areas. In many other areas in these two states, the agitated youths sat on railway tracks shouting slogans against the new recruitment scheme.
As a result of incidents of arson and sit-in protests on railway tracks, around 40 trains were cancelled, while more than 70 trains were delayed.
Meanwhile, a large number of protesting youth were arrested at several places, said local media.
There has been no recruitment in the country’s armed forces over the past two years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The protesters, aged between 21 and 23 years, alleged that, they had been preparing for recruitment in the armed forces for the past two years, but were now rendered ineligible under the new scheme on the basis of age.
As a measure to calm down the violent protests, the federal government today announced the one-time relaxation of the upper age limit from 21 to 23 years.– NNN-PTI
