Lawmaker Demands Urgent Meeting on Violent Agnipath Protests
By RMN News Service
A Congress MP (Member of Parliament) KC Venugopal has demanded an urgent parliamentary meeting to discuss the Modi government’s ill-conceived Agniveer military recruitment scheme which has led to violent protests across the country.
In his letter of today (June 17), Venugopal has asked the chairman of the Standing Committee on Defence, Jual Oram, to convene the meeting so that the violence being perpetrated by the job seekers could be checked.
Reports suggest that the protesters have set on fire at least 12 trains since the protests began on June 15 and now spread in several states of India.
In the wake of widespread protests across the country over the #AgnipathScheme, wrote to the Chairman, Parliament Standing Committee on Defence, which I am a member of, to convene an urgent meeting to discuss in detail the scheme with all stakeholders & defence experts. pic.twitter.com/o1TLAzDvel
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) June 17, 2022
The new scheme for the recruitment of soldiers in the Army, Navy, and Air Force was announced by the service chiefs on June 14 in the presence of defence minister Rajnath Singh.
#WATCH | Bihar: Trains burnt and damaged, cycles, benches, bikes, and stalls thrown on railway tracks amid the ongoing agitation against the recently announced #AgnipathRecruitmentScheme
(Visuals from Danapur Railway Station, Patna district) pic.twitter.com/JBOnCihIoZ
— ANI (@ANI) June 17, 2022
The scheme is being promoted by the Narendra Modi government as a major overhaul of the decades-old selection process to improve the youthful profile of the three services.
In order to placate the protesters, the government increased the upper-age limit for recruitment under the “Agnipath” scheme to 23 years from 21 years for the year 2022.
However, the protests continue. Angry protesters are burning trains and attacking public and police vehicles in different states. At least one person died and 15 others were injured in Secunderabad, Telangana, as protests spread to southern India.
