Protesters in Bihar’s Jehanabad and Buxar districts blocked the movement of trains on the Patna-Gaya and Patna-Buxar routes by lying down on the railway tracks
Agnipath protest in Bihar. ANI
Protests continue in Bihar for the second consecutive day against the Centre’s Agnipath recruitment scheme for hiring jawans on a short-term contractual basis. Youngsters and armed forces aspirants took to street, burned tyres, vandalised vehicles and disrupted rail and road traffic in Jehanabad, Buxar and Nawada districts.
According to news agency PTI, protesters in Jehanabad and Buxar districts blocked the movement of trains on Patna-Gaya and Patna-Buxar routes by lying down on the railway tracks. They were, however, removed from the tracks by Bihar Police and their railway counterparts.
A large number of agitators blocked National Highway 83 (NH-83) in Jehanabad and burned tyres demanding the scrapping of the scheme.
In Bihar’s Nawada, a huge crowd gathered to protest the new scheme launched by the Central government on Tuesday (14 June). People burnt tyres, vandalised buses and vehicles.
In Arrah, students participated in the protest and pelted stones at the police, who had to resort to tear gas shelling to disperse the crowd.
A report by NDTV said that protesters also smashed glass windows of the intercity express train at Bhabhua Road railway station and even set ablaze a coach of the train.
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Violent protests were seen in Munger too, where according to news agency ANI, protesters said: “We demand that the recruitment be done as it used to be done earlier. Tour of Duty (ToD) be rolled back and exams be held as earlier. Nobody will go to Army just for four years.”
In Jehanabad, protesters were planning to disrupt rail traffic but were chased away by cops. Stones were hurled by agitators, leaving several people and police injured.
A protester in Jehanabad told ANI, “Where will we go after working for only four years?… We will be homeless after four years of service. So we have jammed the roads; the country’s leaders will now get to know that people are aware.”
Another protester asked the government to take back the Agnipath scheme. He said: “We work hard to get inducted into the Armed forces. How will the service be for four years, with months of training and leaves? How will we protect the nation after getting trained for just three years? Government has to take back this scheme.
Chhapra district also witnessed similar scenes with protesters burning tyres and vandalising a bus.
Rail and road traffic were disrupted in parts of Bihar where the protests were reported.
A report by ToI said protesters claimed that they will get the employment for only four years and will be devoid of pension thereafter and look for other jobs.
On Tuesday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and the chiefs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force announced the radical and transformative Agnipath scheme for the recruitment of youth in the Armed Forces.
Unveiling the scheme, the Defence Minister said that it was a transformative initiative and would provide a youthful profile to the armed forces.
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Under the Agnipath scheme, around 46,000 soldiers will be recruited this year between the ages of 17-and-a-half years and 21 years into the three services on a four-year short-term contractual basis, in an attempt to bring in fitter and younger troops to deal with future security challenges facing the nation.
The scheme will bring down the average age of a soldier from the current 32 years to 24-26 years in six to seven years.
Of the total annual recruits, only 25 per cent will be allowed to continue for another 15 years under permanent commission.
Under the old system, youths aged between 16-and-a-half years and 21 years were selected for a minimum of 15 years of service and used to get pension after retirement.
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