Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has questioned the new army recruitment scheme Agnipath in view of the protests by youths and has urged the Central government to reconsider its decision.
In a series of tweets on Thursday morning, Mayawati wrote, "After keeping the recruitment pending in the army for a long time, now the Centre has announced a new recruitment scheme of four years in the armed forces and named it 'Agniveer'. Despite (the government) calling it attractive and beneficial, the youth of the country are dissatisfied and angry. They are openly opposing change in the army recruitment system.”
In another tweet she says: "People believe that in order to eliminate pension benefits in the army and government jobs, the government is limiting the tenure of the recruits in the army to only four years, which is grossly unfair and illegal. The government is playing with the future of rural youth and their families.”
The BSP president further said, “People in the country are already sad and afflicted by rising poverty, inflation, unemployment, wrong policies and arrogant working style of the government. In such a situation, the uneasiness spread among the youth regarding new recruitment in the army is now causing disappointment. The government should immediately reconsider its decision; this is the demand of the BSP.”
Agnipath proposes the recruitment of jawans on a contractual basis for a four-year period followed by compulsory retirement for most without the benefits of gratuity and pension. The new recruitment plan aims to cut down the government's massive salary and pension bills and free up funds for arms procurement.