The Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Uttarakhand assembly Yashpal Arya has said that the suicide of the Youth in Bageshwar has put a question mark on the format of the Agniveer recruitment examination and has exposed the horrendous status of unemployment in the State.
He said that the suicide of 20 year old KamleshGoswami of Farsali village of Bageshwar can be termed as a murder committed by the insensitive system of governance. Arya said that Goswami was a ‘C’ certificate holder of National Cadet Corps (NCC) and got 100 marks in the physical test of the Agniveer recruitment even then he could clear the examination. He said that the youngsters are forced to take extreme step of suicide due to the stress generated by unemployment. The LoP said that from day one the youths aspiring to join armed forces were raising questions over the Agniveer scheme. He claimed that the crisis got precipitated by the change in the norms of recruitment. Earlier the standard of height for the youth of mountainous areas was 163 cm and they had to complete the race of 1600 meters in 5.40 minutes but now the standards have been changed to 170 cm height and 5 minute time for the race. Arya said that the senior leaders of BJP in Uttarakhand misled the youth till the month of August that relaxation in the standards would be given but nothing happened.