Agnipath Scheme: Army Job Aspirants Protest In Punjab, Block Chandigarh-Una NH

This comes as there have been protests against the Agnipath scheme in many parts of Haryana and a few parts of Punjab in the past few days.

Protests in Punjab (Image: AFP)

New Delhi: Scores of Army job aspirants took out a protest march against the Central government’s Agnipath recruitment scheme in Punjab’s Rupnagar on Sunday and blocked vehicular traffic on the Chandigarh-Una National Highway for an hour, news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) reported. Raising slogans against the ruling dispensation at the Centre, the protesters demanded the Army recruitment process to continue as earlier and immediate withdrawal of the Agnipath scheme. The protesting youth, according to police, hailed from villages around Anandpur Sahib in Rupnagar district.

A heavy police deployment was made to prevent any unpleasant incident.

This comes as there have been protests against the Agnipath scheme in many parts of Haryana and a few parts of Punjab in the past few days.

The Agnipath scheme for recruitment to the armed forces was launched by the three service chiefs earlier this week in Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s presence.

The Union Cabinet earlier on June 14 approved a recruitment scheme called Agnipath for Indian youth to serve in the armed forces. The scheme allows patriotic and motivated youth to serve in the armed forces for a period of four years.

This scheme has, however, sparked protests in many parts of the country.

Earlier on Thursday, the upper age limit was raised to 23 years for 2022 as protests against the new model for enrolment of soldiers into the three services spread.

The announcement of the new scheme came in the backdrop of recruitments into the military remaining stalled for over two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

As protests continue unabated, various Union Ministries have announced job opportunities for the Agniveers after their four-year term ends.