As violence spiralled against the Agnipath scheme in several states on Thursday, the Centre raised the upper age limit to 23 years from 21 years for recruitment under the scheme—only for this year.
"Cognizant of the fact that it has not been possible to undertake the recruitment during the last two years, the government has decided that a one-time waiver shall be granted for the proposed recruitment cycle for 2022," the defence ministry said, adding the upper-age limit for recruitment under Agnipath has been raised to 23 years. As per the initial notification released on Tuesday, only aspirants between 17-and-a-half years and 21 years of age are eligible for recruitment.
From Bihar's Ara to Haryana's Palwal, from Agra in Uttar Pradesh to Gwalior and Indore in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, hundreds of young aspirants for jobs in the armed forces took to streets, pouring their anger on public and private property. Over 34 trains were cancelled and eight more partially cancelled on Thursday due to the protests.
Bihar bore the brunt of the violence with trains set ablaze, window panes of buses smashed and passersby, including a ruling BJP MLA, pelted with stones on Thursday, the second day of the protest against the scheme. Police fired teargas shells and used baton to break up protests by angry youngsters who blocked railway tracks.
Political parties reacted along partisan lines with the Opposition stepping up its attack on the government and demanding that the scheme be scrapped. "No rank, no pension, no direct recruitment for 2 years, no stable future after four years, no respect shown by the government for the army," Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi. The Left parties, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, BSP leader Mayawati and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also voiced displeasure.
The lone BJP voice that commented against the scheme was that of MP Varun Gandhi. In a letter to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday, Gandhi said the Agnipath scheme would give rise to “more disaffection among the youth”.
-with PTI inputs
