Protests against the ‘Agnipath’ recruitment scheme intensified in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other parts of the country on Friday even as Home Minister Amit Shah and Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande defended the Centre’s decision. One person was killed and three others injured in the police firing on youths protesting at the Secunderabad railway station on Friday against the Central government’s new military recruitment policy.
Angry aspirants set fire to at least 20 bogies of the New Delhi-Bhagalpur Vikramshila Express and New Delhi-Darbhanga Bihar Sampark Kranti Express at Lakhisarai and Samastipur stations and blocked highways in the state. The demonstrators blocked highways at several places in Buxar, Bhagalpur and Samastipur and burnt tyres as a mark of protest, officials said.
The protests, which is into its third day in the state, caused massive disruption of railway services at Buxar and Kahalgaon, officials of East Central Railways said. Jamalpur superintendent of railway, Umer Javed said the protestors set on fire 12 bogies of Vikramshila Express. However, there was no casualty. Protestors also set eight bogies of Bihar Sampark Kranti on fire at Samastipur railway station demanding scrapping of the Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the Armed Forces, a Railway official said.
An ECR official said around 20 trains were cancelled due to the arson, while many others were either short-terminated or run on alternate routes. At Lakhisarai station a large number of protestors lay down on the railway tracks to block the movement of trains. They were dispersed by Railway police with the help of the local police. Following violent protests in Palwal against the Agnipath scheme, Haryana government has suspended mobile internet and SMS services for 24 hours in Ballabhgarh area of Faridabad district as a precautionary measure.
The order, which was issued by the Home department and came into effect after 12 am on Friday, led to the suspension of mobile internet services, all SMS services, including bulk SMS (excluding banking and mobile recharge), and all dongle services provided on mobile networks to maintain law and order and prevent the spread of rumours, officials said. Unidentified miscreants went on the rampage at the Secunderabad Railway station here, setting on fire a parcel coach of a passenger train. The agitators shouted slogans against the Centre demanding normal recruitment of army jobs, South Central Railway sources said. The agitators, numbering about 300-350, pelted stones and set a parcel coach of a passenger train on fire. Some stalls in the railway station suffered damage, they said. The agitators pulled out cargo from the parcel coach and dumped it on the tracks and set fire leading to disruption of some train services.
The Centre’s decision to increase the upper age limit for joining the Agnipath scheme for recruitment in defence services will benefit a large number of youth, Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday. He said the recruitment process in the Army had been affected for the last two years due to the coronavirus pandemic and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a sensitive decision by showing concern for the youth of the country. Gen Pande said the decision of the government has been received by the Army to grant the one-time waiver and that the recruitment process will be announced shortly. The Chief of Army Staff also called upon the youth to avail the opportunity to join the Army as ‘Agniveers’. ‘The decision of the government has been received to grant a one-time waiver, increasing the entry age of recruitment to 23 years, for the recruitment cycle of 2022’, the Army Chief said in a statement.
Post Your Comments