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Allow youths to give written exam to join army instead of implementing ‘Agnipath’: Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann said that ‘Agnipath’ scheme is a grave injustice with the youth of the country who want to serve their motherland by joining the Indian army
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday said that those youths who had cleared the physical test for joining the army in the last two years must be given a chance to appear in the written exam instead of implementation of the Centre’s ‘Agnipath’ scheme.
In a statement issued here, the chief minister, while reiterating his demand for roll back of the scheme, said that it is ridiculous that from the last two years, thousands of youths have cleared the physical test of the armed forces but they have not been called for the written exam.
On the contrary, he said that the NDA government had in a “whimsical move” introduced the ‘Agnipath’ scheme, which allows short service of four years to youth in army without any pension.
Mann said that this is grave injustice with the youth of the country who want to serve their motherland by joining the Indian army.
The chief minister said that the Union government must take back this scheme and allow the youth, who had cleared their physical test in the last two years, to sit in the written exam as this will give them a fair chance to join the Indian army and serve their motherland.
Mann said that this is a need of the hour as this “irrational move” has already put the country on boil as youth from every nook and corner of India are agitating against this decision.
The chief minister said that ‘Agnipath’, if implemented, will dilute the fighting ability of the soldiers as in mere four years, they will not have much experience to combat enemies in rough battlefields and it will also render them jobless after a short stint in the army.
LOP Bajwa for resolution against ‘Agnipath’ in assembly
Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Partap Bajwa on Saturday urged the Punjab government to bring forth a resolution against the ‘Agnipath’ recruitment scheme during the upcoming assembly session.
“I recommend that the government of Punjab take an all-party delegation to meet with the Prime Minister to explain why the Agnipath scheme must be immediately rolled back,” said Bajwa in a statement issued here.
He said the scheme will negatively impact the youth of Punjab and it is pertinent here to point out that under the new recruitment and manning plan and the changeover to the All-India, All-Class composition mandated by the Recruitable Male Population (RMP) policy, Punjab’s representation in the army will plunge dramatically from 7.8% currently to 2.3% in the not-so-distant future.
“This is an insult to the sacrifices made by Punjabis for India. The resultant loss of jobs for Punjabis and the chaos, frustration and unhappiness caused will lead to destabilisation of this strategic border state,” said Bajwa, adding that the situation will be exploited by anti-national forces and enemies lurking across the border.
The dilution in the Punjabi character of world-renowned regiments like the Punjab Regiment (the oldest regiment in the Indian army), the Sikh Regiment (the highest decorated regiment in the Indian army) and the world-renowned Sikh Light Infantry, world-beating regiments from the Armoured Corps, Artillery and Engineers would only further reinforce the image of Punjab being insulted.
