Govt firm on Agnipath, protests subside amid arrests; Bharat Bandh today

Agnipath: The Army, Navy and the Air Force came out with a broad schedule of enrolment of defence aspirants under the new policy, while stating that Agniveers would have to take a pledge that they did not take part in any violence or vandalism.

The defence ministry on Sunday said there would be no rollback of the 'Agnipath' recruitment scheme in the wake of widespread protests witnessed over the past few days in several parts of the country.

Paramilitary personnel patrol along the railway tracks as several trains were canceled in view of the ongoing Agnipath agitations, in Patna on Sunday.  (ANI)

The agitation seemed to have subsided during the day, even as a Bharat Bandh call for Monday kept the administration and security forces on the guard, while train services remained in several places hit in view of security concerns. The Congress said that lakhs of its workers would continue its agitation over the issue across the country on Monday.

Earlier in the day, in a joint media briefing, the Army, Navy and the Air Force came out with a broad schedule of enrolment of defence aspirants under the new policy, while stating that Agniveers (as Agnipath recruits would be known) would have to take a pledge that they did not take part in any violence or vandalism as there is no space for indiscipline in the forces.

Lt Gen Anil Puri, additional secretary in the department of military affairs, said the Agnipath scheme is the only "progressive" step to bring down the age profile of the three services and the latest concessions and offers being made by the ministries and states were pre-planned and not a consequence of the massive backlash over the newly unveiled scheme.

Senior officials of the three services further released terms and conditions as well as guidelines for the new recruitment process.

The media briefing at the defence ministry headquarters took place hours after defence minister Rajnath Singh held a meeting with the chiefs of the Army, Navy and the Air Force for the second straight day.

The scheme that was announced during a joined briefing by Singh along with the service chiefs on Tuesday sparked violent protests in several parts of the country, with agitating military aspirants demanding its rollback citing only four-year tenure for 75 per cent of the recruits under it.

As the stir intensified, especially in Bihar, trains were burnt of trains and damage was caused to other government properties. Hundreds of arrests were made over the past few days, including owners of army coaching centres for provoking the protesters.

A protesting youth was killed in Telangana's Secunderabad due to alleged police firing days ago.