Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has called for the Agnipath defence recruitment scheme to be scrapped, saying, ‘We can’t keep soldiers on rent. How can we make them ex-soldiers merely at age of 21? They protect the country in harsh conditions.’
‘Politicians never retire; it’s only soldiers and public who retire.’ the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said to ANI. This aligns with his party’s leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s attitude on the scheme, which has been criticised by army recruits in several states. On Friday, there were violent protests across the country, including in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Telangana, among other places.
The Agnipath scheme entails the hiring of men and women (called ‘Agniveers’) aged 17.5 to 21 on four-year contracts in all three services, with only up to 25% of them receiving regular recruitment at the end. Because there has been no recruitment for the past two years, the government has relaxed the upper age limit for this year. The protesters, on the other hand, are unsatisfied. Soldiers were recruited for a minimum of 15 years under the old system, and they were also entitled to a pension.
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