Centre, states promise jobs amid Agnipath stir

A person aware of the matter said the jobs set aside under the home ministry in the central paramilitary forces will also be in addition to the quota for former defence personnel.

At least 10% of the jobs in central paramilitary forces, civilian defence posts and a host of defence sector public companies will be reserved for people after exiting the Agnipath programme, the government announced on Saturday, as it scrambled to defuse anger against the new military recruitment scheme along with similar steps disclosed by some state governments.

(PTI)

Violent protests against the Agnipath scheme continued for the fourth day on Saturday, with more cases of arson and rail blockades being reported. In one of the most severe fallouts, the Indian Railways suspended train services during the daytime in Bihar and several services on the southern network were re-routed to avoid regions where protests have been intense.

“The ministry of home affairs decides to reserve 10% vacancies for recruitment in CAPFs (central armed police forces) and Assam Rifles for Agniveers, completing four years under the Agnipath scheme announced by the government of India, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Union home minister Amit Shah said in a tweet on Saturday.

Hours later, defence minister Rajnath Singh held a meeting with the three military service chiefs, the defence secretary and senior officials of the department of military affairs where it was decided that a similar quota will be kept in the organisations under the ministry, which includes the Indian Coast Guard and 16 public sector defence companies. “This reservation would be in addition to existing reservation for ex-servicemen,” the minister said.

A person aware of the matter said the jobs set aside under the home ministry in the central paramilitary forces will also be in addition to the quota for former defence personnel.

Last year, after a pandemic-triggered slowdown, close to 58,000 jobs were given in the lower ranks in CAPFs and the Assam Rifles. According to data shared by the home ministry in Rajya Sabha on March 16 this year, there were 73,219 vacancies in CAPFs and Assam Rifles — including 43,121 in the other ranks category. This category includes the constabulary, the group to which Agniveers will be eligible to apply.

Three ministries separately announced other forms of support: the civil aviation ministry indicated it will give Agniveers priority in roles of air traffic management, logistics and maintenance; the ministry of shipping said there will be opportunities in the merchant navy and recognition of “ratings” that Agniveers earn in the navy; and the education ministry said it plans to recognise in-service training as credits in graduation courses.

Another person aware of the matter said similar steps were being considered in the Union finance ministry, and priority may be given in recruitment by major public sector firm companies such as State Bank of India, Life Insurance Corporation of India, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, NTPC Ltd, Coal India Ltd and Airports Authority of India.

All administrative ministries and departments of public sector firms are currently working on identifying where these opportunities can be created, this person said.

The National Institute of Open Schooling will help Agniveers who cleared the 10th grade to complete 12th, and the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) will roll out customised degrees, the central government has said.

Separately, the governments of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Assam, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh — all under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — said they too will give priority to those leaving the military scheme after four years in state government jobs, especially in the police.

The spree of announcements follows widespread protests in several states. The anger first began to boil into the streets on Thursday, and by Friday night, at least 316 trains were affected and 200 cancelled while bogeys of another 14 trains were torched across Telangana, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. One protester died in police firing in Secunderabad on Friday.

On Saturday, mobs set ablaze Taregana railway station in Bihar during a bandh and vandalised Ludhiana railway station in Punjab. Rail tracks and roads were blockaded in parts of West Bengal, Haryana, Rajasthan, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.

The Agnipath scheme was announced on Tuesday, laying out a new recruitment model for most entry-level posts in the armed forces. People between the ages of 17.5 years and 21 years will be eligible to apply, and a quarter of them will be included in regular military service after they clear further evaluation, while the rest will be considered as having completed the scheme, being let go with a corpus of around ₹11.71 lakh at the end of the fourth year.

But protesters are angry about the length of service and the lack of pension provisions for those released early. They also opposed the age limit of 21, which was eased by the government on Thursday to allow, as a one-time exception, those up till the age of 23 to apply for the scheme.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should roll back the Agnipath scheme, just as he had to do with the farm laws. “I had said earlier also that the prime minister will have to withdraw the black farm laws. In the same manner, he will have to accept the demand of the youth of the country by becoming ‘maafiveer’ and take back the ‘Agnipath’ scheme,” he said in a tweet in Hindi.

Union minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday appealed to the protesters to shun violence. “I would like to appeal to the country’s youth that path of violence would not take you anywhere. In a democracy, you have right to protest but not by setting government property on fire. Violence has no place in a democracy,” he said, replying to questions at a conclave organised by the TV9 media group, PTI reported.

He also urged political parties not to “provoke” the youth.

The minister suggested protesters can come for talks with the central government through the governors and chief ministers of their states or through their elected representatives and the Union ministers. “Whatever your views are, you can express and share on social media. You (can) express your views on what are the changes that you want. But, don’t indulge in violence,” he said.

The chief ministers of Kerala, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu — all ruled by opposition parties — spoke against the government’s scheme.

Experts backed the assurances announced by the government and its functionaries on Saturday. “This is a good step. It will assuage some of the concerns about future employment of Agniveers,” said former Northern Army commander Lieutenant General DS Hooda (retd).

“This shows that all government the departments are focused on creating opportunities for the youngsters. I really hope that these youngsters see the benefits of this scheme, because this opportunity is knocking at their doors very early in life. They should encash it,” said K Durga Prasad, former Director General of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

(With inputs from Rajeev Jayaswal and agencies)