Jehanabad/Buxar/Nawada: Protests against the Centre’s ‘Agnipath’ scheme for hiring jawans on a short-term contractual basis continued across Bihar for the second consecutive day on Thursday as aspirants preparing for jobs in defence forces disrupted railway and road traffic in Jehanabad, Buxar and Nawada districts.
Under the old system, youths aged between 16.5 and 21 years were selected for a minimum of 15 years of service and used to get pension after retirement. Under the ‘Agnipath’ scheme, around 45,000 people aged between 17.5 and 21 years will be inducted into the armed forces for a four-year period, following which most of them will have to take compulsory retirement sans pension or gratuity benefits although some will be retained.
#WATCH | Bihar: Youth demonstrate in Chhapra, burn tyres and vandalise a bus in protest against the recently announced #AgnipathRecruitmentScheme pic.twitter.com/Ik0pYK26KY
— ANI (@ANI) June 16, 2022
Of the total annual recruits, only 25% will be allowed to continue for another 15 years under permanent commission. The Union cabinet has approved the ‘transformative’ scheme on Tuesday. . The aspirants said they are unhappy with the changes introduced under the new recruitment scheme for the Indian Army- particularly the length of service, no pension provisions for those released early, and the 17.5 to 21 age restriction that now makes many of them ineligible.
Protestors blocked the movement of trains on Patna-Gaya and Patna-Buxar routes by lying down on the railway tracks in Jehanabad and Buxar districts. However, Bihar Police along with their railway counterparts immediately removed the protestors from the tracks. Hundreds of agitators blocked National Highway 83 in Jehanabad and burned tyres demanding the scrapping of the scheme. Angry protestors took out processions in the three districts and other parts of the state. Protestors had disrupted railway and road traffic in various parts of the state also on Wednesday.
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