Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will meet the three service chiefs today amid the ongoing row over the Agnipath scheme.Â
The Centre on Saturday had announced several incentives including 10 per cent reservation in vacancies in the defence ministry and paramilitary forces for Agnipath retirees as it tried to defuse the violent protests that raged on against the new military recruitment scheme in many states and the opposition parties stepped up pressure for a rollback.
Strongly defending the scheme, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said it was brought after wide-ranging consultations and suggested a "misunderstanding" was being spread for political reasons, while Union Minister Anurag Thakur appealed to the youths to shun violence and come forward for talks, asserting that the government is ready to look into their grievances with an open mind and make changes, if required.
Rajnath Singh also met Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhari, Navy Chief Admiral R. Hari Kumar and Vice Chief of Army Staff Gen B.S. Raju and is learnt to have discussed a quick rollout of the Agnipath scheme and ways to pacify the agitators.
Mobs set ablaze Taregana railway station in Bihar during a bandh on Saturday and vandalised Ludhiana railway station in Punjab, as protesters continued to target railway properties on the fourth day of the stir and blocked roads and rail tracks in several states including West Bengal, Haryana, Rajasthan, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.
Railways cancelled 369 trains on Saturday and passengers faced a harrowing time. Over 200 trains were cancelled a day earlier after the railways faced the brunt of the protests. The agitation also spread to the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, with aspirants doing push-ups on roads at some places to register their protest. DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin asked the Centre to rethink the scheme, while CPI(M) leader and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan urged Prime Minister Modi to put it on hold.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi termed the scheme as "directionless" and said her party will work for its withdrawal while appealing to the youths to adopt peaceful and non-violent means to fight for their demands.
