Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who moved the resolution in the House, said he will soon raise Agnipath with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah and demand its roll back or referral to a defence committee
The Punjab Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution by voice vote against the Agnipath military recruitment scheme.
The Assembly urged the Centre to immediately roll back it in ‘the larger interest of the country’.
This makes Punjab the first state to do so.
Let’s take a closer look at who moves the resolution, what it says and what it means:
Who moved the resolution?
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann moved the resolution in the House on the concluding day of the budget session.
What does the resolution say?
According to the resolution, the House recommends to the state government to take up the matter with the Union government in order to roll back the Agnipath scheme immediately.
As per The Print, the resolution reads, “The unilateral announcement of the Agnipath scheme by the Government of India has witnessed widespread reactions in all states, including Punjab.”
“The scheme also has the propensity to weaken the long-standing esprit de corps of the armed forces. Through this resolution, this House recommends to the state government to take up the matter with the Centre so that the Agnipath scheme is rolled back immediately,” it read.
“The Punjab Vidhan Sabha strongly feels that the scheme where youth will be employed only for a period of four years and only up to 25% will be retained, is neither in the best interests of national security nor of the youth of this country.”
“This policy is likely to create dissatisfaction among the youth who wish to serve the armed forces of the nation for a lifetime.”
“The youth of Punjab consider serving in the Indian Armed Forces as a matter of pride and honour and are renowned for their valour and courage. This scheme has crushed the dreams of many youths of Punjab who have been aspiring to join the Armed Forces as regular soldiers,” the resolution reads said.
What does it mean?
The resolution is purely a symbolic move.
What did Mann say?
Participating in the discussion on the resolution, Mann said he will soon raise the issue of Agnipath scheme with the prime minister and the Union home minister and will demand its roll back or refer it to a defence committee.
Vehemently opposing the scheme, Mann said this initiative was against the country’s youth.
“This policy is likely to create dissatisfaction among the youth who wish to serve the armed forces of the nation for a lifetime,” said Mann.
More than one lakh soldiers from Punjab serve in the armed forces of the nation and many of them give the supreme sacrifice of their life on the borders of the country every year, he said.
“The youth of Punjab consider serving in the Indian armed forces as a matter of pride and honour and are renowned for their valour and courage.
“This scheme has crushed the dreams of many youths of Punjab who have been aspiring to join the armed forces as regular soldiers,” said Mann.
The scheme also has the propensity to weaken the long standing esprit de corps of the armed forces, said Mann while moving the resolution.
Lambasting the BJP-led Centre for this “whimsical” move, the CM dared the BJP leaders to enroll their own sons as Agniveers before supporting this “anti-youth” move.
He said that those who are advocating this move should set an example by sending their sons first in the Army under the scheme.
“In this way, they will get a fresh young lot of Agniveers who will be saluting their leaders in their offices, after a service of four years,” Mann said.
Calling it as an “illogical” move that will “jeopardize” the national security, besides damaging the basic spirit of the Indian Army, Mann advised the BJP leaders to stop building castles in air to support this move which is detrimental to the interests of the country.
He said this scheme is against the ethos of love and passion of a youth for his country and the armed forces. Asking the BJP leaders to explain how the country will combat its infiltrators and enemies with an “Army on rent”, Mann cautioned them that this move will “prove fatal for the unity, integrity and sovereignty of the country in the coming times”.
Citing examples of how the Indian Army has a glorious tradition of taking care of the families of the martyred soldiers, Mann also asked the BJP leaders to explain that if any soldier, enrolled under the scheme, attains martyrdom during call of duty then who will take care of their families as there is no such provision in it. Mann claimed that under this scheme, a soldier will not get the status of a martyr.
Leader of Opposition and Congress legislator Partap Singh Bajwa demanded that the Agnipath scheme should be withdrawn.
“I want to say to the Central government that do not play with fire,” said Bajwa as he also referred to the three farm laws which were later repealed following the opposition from farmer bodies.
Bajwa alleged that the Centre came up with the Agnipath scheme just to run away from paying pension to the soldiers.
“What is the need for such an experiment?” asked Bawja.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali supported the resolution and demanded the scheme’s rollback while adding that it has cheated the youth who aspire to join the forces.
Did anyone oppose the resolution?
Two BJP MLAs Ashwani Sharma and Jangi Lal Mahajan came out against the resolution in the 117-member Assembly.
Sharma said that there should be no politics over the issue related to security of the country and also underscored the need for understanding this scheme.
He said this scheme was aimed at instilling discipline and patriotism among the youth.
Protests over scheme
Protests had erupted in various parts of the country including Punjab after the Centre unveiled the Agnipath scheme to recruit youngsters aged between 17-and-a-half and 21 years in the army, navy and air force, largely on a four-year contractual basis. It later relaxed the upper age limit for this year’s recruitment to 23.
Army aspirants hold placards and banners during a demonstration against the Agnipath Recruitment Scheme for the Armed Forces, in Chennai. ANI
As per Indian Express, the farm unions of Punjab had on 22 June in response to a call given by the Sanyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), held protests at 90 places against scheme.
The farmer unions later in the day, along with members of Naujawan Bharat Sabha, also submitted memorandums addressed to the President of India via the Sub-Divisional Magistrates(SDMs) and Deputy Commissioners (DCs) of their areas.
The memorandum states that only 46,000 will be appointed in the first year of Agnipath scheme and a total of 2 lakh Agniveers will be appointed in the first four years, as against 87,000 recruitments in the year 2020. All recruitment will be on “All India All Class” basis in place of Regiment based Region Community Quota prevalent till now.
Jagmohan Singh Patiala, general secretary of BKU-Dakaunda told Indian Express, “If you visit villages, normally the landless , small or marginal farmer families prepare for recruitment rallies in the Army. They serve the nation and even feed the nation. But a four years job will affect the rural sector. Our sons will be jobless.”
Dr Darshan Pal, senior SKM member added, “We demand withdrawal of the Agnipath scheme as Kisan and Jawan are interlinked. This scheme is directly going to affect farmers as the majority of sons of farmers work as jawans. Hence, people rightly say Jai jawan, jai kisan. First the three farm laws and now Agnipath, why are common farmers being targeted again and again?”
Mann follows through
Mann had on Tuesday said in the Assembly that his government will bring a resolution against the Agnipath scheme, asserting that the Centre’s military recruitment initiative will destroy the basic fabric of the Indian Army
Mann had on 18 June demanded a rollback of the Agnipath recruitment scheme for defence services and said those who cleared physical tests in the last two years must get a chance to appear in written exams for joining the Army.
He claimed that this Agnipath scheme will “dilute” the fighting ability of soldiers. It will also render the youth jobless after a four-year stint in the armed forces that too without any security for the future, Mann said.
It is ridiculous that in the last two years, thousands of youth cleared the physical test of the armed forces but they have not been called for the written exams, he said in a statement. On the contrary, the Central government, in a “whimsical” move, introduced the Agnipath scheme which allows a short service of four years to youths in the armed forces without any pension, Mann said.
The Punjab Chief Minister said, “This is a grave injustice for the youth of the country who want to serve their motherland by joining the Indian Army.” He said the Union government must take back this scheme and allow the youth, who had cleared their physical test in the last two years, to sit in the written exam.
“This will give them a fair chance to join the armed forces.” “This is the need of the hour as this irrational move [Agnipath scheme] has put the country on the boil as the youth from every nook and cranny of India are agitating against this decision,” Mann said.
The Punjab Chief Minister said, “This half-baked policy is absurd. It will further push the youth into a vicious cycle of unemployment and poverty which will be detrimental for unity, integrity and sovereignty of the country.”
Mann had on Friday also demanded an immediate rollback of the Agnipath scheme, calling it an insult to the Army and a loss for the youth.
With inputs from agencies
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