Agnipath scheme: Aspirants protest outside Jammu army recruitment office

Agnipath scheme: The aspirants, who blocked Dogra Chowk before moving to Tawi Bridge where traffic was disrupted for over an hour, said many of them will not be able to apply under the Agnipath scheme afresh due to the age limit

The Jammu Police on Thursday resorted to lathi charge to disperse protesters opposing the introduction of the Agnipath scheme to recruit jawans on a contractual basis.

Agnipath scheme: The protesters called the scheme a cruel joke for the army aspirants (Twittervideo screengrab)

Police said mild force was used to disperse the protest outside the army’s recruitment office on BC Road in Jammu. In case of the second protest at Dogra Chowk, some of the participants were also detained.

The protesters called the scheme a cruel joke for the army aspirants, saying the armed forces have cancelled the written examination that they had been waiting for and the aspirants were told to apply under the Agnipath scheme.

The aspirants, who blocked Dogra Chowk before moving to Tawi Bridge where traffic was disrupted for over an hour, said many of them will not be able to apply under the Agnipath scheme afresh due to the age limit.

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.”

In the new policy, a person will get a job for four years and only a quarter of the initial intake will eventually be absorbed into the forces and allowed to serve for 15 years.