E-Paper
Protests against Agnipath Scheme: Army aspirants lathicharged, detained in Jammu
Army aspirants staging a protest against the cancellation of the written examination and introduction of the Agnipath scheme to recruit jawans on a contractual basis were lathicharged and detained in two separate areas in Jammu
Army aspirants staging a protest against the cancellation of the written examination and introduction of the Agnipath scheme to recruit jawans on a contractual basis were lathicharged and detained in two separate areas in Jammu on Thursday.
While the lathicharge took place outside the army’s recruitment office on BC Road in Jammu, protesters were detained at Dogra Chowk.
Calling the Agnipath scheme, which allows the army to recruit jawans on a contractual basis for a four-year period, followed by compulsory retirement for most without gratuity and pension benefits, a “cruel joke”, the protesting aspirants raised slogans against the BJP and blocked Dogra Chowk, before finally assembling on Tawi Bridge, where traffic remained disrupted for over an hour.
One of the protesters said, “We had cleared our physical and medical examination and had been waiting for the written examination. However, we have been told that the written exam has been cancelled and that we will now be accommodated under the Agnipath scheme.”
Another protesting aspirant said, “First, recruitment did not take place due to the abrogation of Article 370, and afterwards the Covid pandemic cast a shadow on recruitment for two years. Just when things were starting to normalise, the written exam has been scrapped.”
“Around 80-90% aspirants do not fall in the prescribed age group for the scheme. The government must rollback the decision as our futures are at stake,” he said, adding that several aspirants had applied for recruitment in 2019.
It may be stated here Jammu region is famous for producing officers and soldiers for the three services of the nation, especially army.
