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Agnipath scheme: Congress workers stage demonstrations across Haryana
Former Haryana chief minister (CM) and leader of opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda led the protest in Rohtak while former minister and senior Congress leader Captain Ajay Yadav and Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda participated in a sit-in at Rewari.
The Congress party on Monday took to the streets and protested against the Centre’s Agnipath recruitment scheme by holding sit-ins across the state.
Former Haryana chief minister (CM) and leader of opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda led the protest in Rohtak while former minister and senior Congress leader Captain Ajay Yadav and Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda participated in a sit-in at Rewari.
Addressing the protesters, former CM Hooda said Haryana would be among the states that would be the hardest hit by this scheme.
“Two lakh posts are vacant due to non-recruitment by army over the last three years. The government should have made recruitments on vacant posts but instead, it is doing this,” he added.
Hooda said every year 5,000 to 7,000 youths from Haryana used to be recruited by the army but as recruitment had not taken place for the last three years, nearly 20,000 youths in the state were left unemployed.
To the state government’s claim of providing permanent jobs to Agniveers, the former CM said, “The government must answer why it has given jobs to only 543 out of 29,275 ex-servicemen so far. The permanent jobs they are promising must be given before the youths are sent out on four-year deputation.”
Hooda further said the time is not right to carry out such experiments as India is already seeing tensions along its border with China and Pakistan.
In Karnal, hundreds of Congress workers, led by party’s Haryana in-charge Vivek Bansal and Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee incharge Udai Bhan, reached the mini-secretariat and staged ademonstration.
Bansal termed the Agnipath scheme a threat to national security and dangerous for the future of the army aspirants.
Replying to a question on the SYL issue, Bansal said that the AAP should clear its stand on Haryana’s share. He said the Congress, if voted, to power will ensure that Haryana get its share.
In Yamunanagar and Ambala districts too, protests were staged outside the office of deputy commissioners. In Yamunanagar, Radaur MLA Bishan Lal Saini led the protest, while in Ambala, it was led by working president of Haryana Congress, Ram Kishan Gujjar.
