Opposition parties on Thursday slammed the “Agnipath’ recruitment policy and demanded that it should be scrapped. They also sought a discussion on the new scheme in Parliament.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party(SP)leader Akhilesh Yadav, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP)supremo Mayawati and Left parties questioned the efficacy of the policy. BJP MP Varun Gandhi also raised doubts over the scheme.
Rahul Gandhi urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to listen to the voice of unemployed youths and not take “agnipareeksha (trial by fire)” of their patience by making them walk on “Agnipath”.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra hit out at the government over the scheme and urged the prime minister not to "crush the dreams of the youth".
"No rank, no pension, no direct recruitment for 2 years, no stable future after four years, no respect shown by the government for the army," Rahul said in a tweet in Hindi.
“Listen to the voice of unemployed youths of the country, don't take 'agnipareeksha' of their patience by making them walk on 'Agnipath', Mr. Prime Minister," the former Congress chief said. Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet there are many dreams for the future in the eyes of those preparing for recruitment in the armed forces such as serving the country and their parents.
"What will the new army recruitment scheme give them? After 4 years, no job guarantee, no pension facility = no rank, no pension. @narendramodi ji don't crush the dreams of the youth," she said.
Questioning various provisions of Agnipath, BJP MP Varun Gandhi said it will give rise to more disaffection among the youths and asked the government to make its stand clear.
In a letter to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Varun Gandhi said the young population has shared their questions and doubts with him about the radical changes in the soldiers' recruitment process which also proposes that the 75 per cent of the recruits under the scheme will retire after four years of service without pension.
Arvind Kejriwal urged the centre not to limit the service period for the new recruits in the armed forces to just four years and extended his support to the Army aspirants who are protesting against the scheme.
With this, Kejriwal has joined the growing list of politicians who have condemned the scheme, under which soldiers will be recruited in the armed forces as 'Agniveers' on a contractual basis.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav called the move "negligent" and potentially "fatal" for the country's future. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav also condemned the scheme.
"The security of the country is not a short-term or informal issue; it expects a very serious and long-term policy. The negligent attitude that is being adopted regarding military recruitment will prove to be fatal when it comes to the protection of the future of the country and the youth,” Akhilesh said in a tweet. “Agnipath se path per agni na ho (‘Agnipath' must not set the path on fire)," he added in the same tweet.
The Left parties demanded that the ‘Agnipath’ scheme be scrapped and be taken up in Parliament for discussion, alleging that it does a "disservice" to India's national interests.
"The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) strongly disapproves the 'Agnipath' scheme that does disservice to India's national interests. Professional armed forces cannot be raised by recruiting 'soldiers on contract' for a period of four years. This scheme, to save pension money, severely compromises the quality and efficiency of our professional armed forces," CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said in a tweet.
He further said for the last two years there has been no recruitment in the Indian Army and instead of recruiting regular soldiers into the armed forces, this scheme leaves such contract soldiers with no other prospects of employment after four years.
"This creates a dangerous situation where they may end up serving private militias. This has hazardous implications for our social fabric already under severe strain. It is criminal to call upon our youth to be prepared to make the supreme sacrifice without the minimum protection of job security. The spontaneous protests in various parts of the country, reflects the anger against this scheme.
"The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) demands that this 'Agnipath' scheme be scrapped forthwith and regular recruitment into the armed forces be undertaken urgently," Yechury said.
Binoy Viswam(CPI) too opposed the scheme and sought its withdrawal. "It is contractualisation in Indian military, exploitation of youth through low wages, back door entry for RSS, part of militarisation, betrayal of unemployed. Military Recruitment is not kitchen recipe of BJP. Need discussion in parliament," he tweeted.
CPI general secretary D Raja tweeted, "Finding jobs has become literally a 'Path of Fire' under Modi. Govt is trying to hoodwink the restive youth by #AgnipathScheme. It'll make our army contract based and jeopardise the future of our youth. "It should be withdrawn immediately! Youth deserve proper, secure jobs!"
In a separate statement, the CPI said any dilution in the service conditions of defence personnel, including their discipline will only harm the security and sovereignty of the country.
"Contract appointment and short-term employment after imparting full-fledged training at the cost of the exchequer will not only affect the quality of the services but also will harm the future of the trained personnel who will find it very difficult to get a suitable job.
"The party warns the government against tinkering with the present set up of recruitment, promotion, etc, in the defence services. The party demands that the 'Agnipath' scheme should be immediately withdrawn and the government fill the existing vacancies by following the established procedures," the statement said.