Aspirants for jobs in the armed forces on Thursday blocked road and rail traffic in several states for the second consecutive day to protest against Agnipath, the Centre’s short-term recruitment scheme, The Indian Express reported.
The Agnipath scheme, which provides for recruitment in the armed forces for four years, was approved by the Union Cabinet Committee on Security on Tuesday morning. Through the scheme, the government is seeking to reduce the average age of defence personnel and cut down the salary and pension bills of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
The protests took place in several parts of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan on Thursday. In Delhi and Jammu too, protestors took to streets.
In Bihar, the demonstrations turned violent in several places, as some of the protestors broke window panes of trains and buses. Protesters in Bihar’s Bhabua and Chhapra cities set train coaches on fire, PTI reported.
In Nawada district, a Bharatiya Janata Party office was set on fire. In a separate incident, agitators threw stones at Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Aruna Devi’s car. Five persons, including the legislator, were injured in the attack. “The protestors seemed to have been provoked by the sight of the party flag, fitted on my car, which they tore,” Devi said.
The MLA told reporters that she was “too shaken” to file a police complaint.
At some places in the state, the police fired tear gas shells and baton-charged the protestors in an attempt to disperse them.
Some protestors sought the reinstatement of the old method of recruitment, while some sought reservation in other jobs after the end of the four-year stint in the armed forces.
“What is this four-year service?” Manoj Kumar, a protestor in Bhagalpur said, according to The Indian Express. “People talk of catching us young, they are planning to retire us young.”
Previously, soldiers have been recruited by the three armed forces for a 17-year period, which could be extended later for some personnel.
Protests against the Agnipath scheme were also held in Haryana’s Gurugram, Rewari and Palwal. Some protestors threw stones in outside the district commissioner’s office in Palwal, and torched police vehicles. The police fired shots to bring the protests under control.