Kangana Ranaut says Agniveer scheme will help candidates build ‘personality’: Wish I had such privileges growing up

Expressing her support for Agniveer scheme, actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut recounted struggle to groom herself while finding her way in Bollywood.

Amid growing controversy surrounding the Agniveer scheme for short-term induction of soldiers, actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut has come out to support the scheme, saying she believed that serving in the army even for a short period of time will not help everyone hone their personality and character for better. Also read: MP Kangana Ranaut announces new release date of former PM Indira Gandhi biopic Emergency

Kangana Ranaut started her journey as a politician.

Kangana comes to support

The actor turned politician took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to express her confidence in the scheme.

“Totally agree, I too come from a small village, lack of confidence and presentation are major challenges for us who come from rural villages/government Hindi medium schools,” she began her post, adding, “Serving in the army even for a short period of time will not only groom you but also give you a personality/character (set of nationalistic and inclusive life values) along with etiquettes and discipline and an opportunity to be a soldier if you want to be one. What else do you need to conquer the world?”

“And you get paid for all this training, imagine!! Wish I had such privileges growing up!! I had to train myself to be a soldier mentally, emotionally, physically. Many classes I took joined gym and used to visit RamaKrishna mission math while struggling to earn my bread and roof every day. Socho #AgniveerScheme,” she concluded.

A social media user questioned Kangana asking, “And after 4 years, you will keep our so-called soldiers as guards at your house gate ?”

To which, the actor responded, “There are reservations for them in government security forces like CRPF, BSF and what is wrong in being a private guard? They earn their living with dignity and honesty, stop humiliating them just because you think they are unnecessary”.

“If today university toppers can sell dosa or biryani on streets and slowly make crores per month by expanding their business on merit then no job is small, it depends on your caliber also, in this populated nation one has to be ready for competition as well, yes being a private guard or starting your own security company is also an option and it’s a great option,” she added.

Know more about Agniveer scheme

In June 2022, India announced the Agnipath aka Agniveer scheme replacing the legacy recruitment system to lower the age profile of the armed forces, ensure a fitter military, and create a technically skilled war-fighting force capable of meeting future challenges. The scheme is expected to bring down the average age of soldiers in the armed forces from the current 32 years to 24-26 years over the next five to six years.

It seeks to recruit soldiers for four years, with a provision to retain 25% of them in regular service for another 15 years after further screening. The announcement saw mixed response in the political world.