Haryana, Jharkhand, Punjab and Kerala have issued guidelines and tightened security to prevent law and order issues on Monday
A protester runs after hearing gun shots at Secunderabad railroad station in Hyderabad, on 17 June, 2022. AP
In view of a possible Bharat bandh on Monday, called by certain organisations against the newly launched Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the military, several states including Haryana, Punjab, Kerala and Jharkhand have taken security measures.
Various parts of the country witnessed protests against the scheme of the government while some states reported violent incidents.
Haryana
Faridabad police have tightened security and appealed to the people not to pay heed to rumours, as per a police official.
“All preparations related to security arrangements have been completed by the Faridabad Police in terms of law and order on the call for Bharat Bandh. Law and order in Faridabad is completely tight. For this, elaborate security arrangements were made by putting up various police checkpoints in Faridabad,” said the police on Sunday.
Police spokesperson Sube Singh said that the main objective of the police duties imposed during Bharat Bandh is to avert any untoward incident in the city and no law and order situation arises.
“For this, along with the police blocks already put up by the Faridabad Police, 11 other police blocks have been put up including Badarpur Border, Durga Builders, Prahladpur, Shooting Range, Mangar, Sikri border, Ballabhgarh bus stand, railway station, metro station, toll taxes etc have been marked. Tomorrow, more than 2,000 policemen from Faridabad will be fielded to ensure that law and order is maintained in the city,” the police said.
“All the ACPs will keep an eye on the situation in their area under the guidelines of the Commissioner of Police, Vikas Arora,” he added.
The police official informed that videography will be done to keep an eye on the “activities of anti-social elements” during the bandh.
“Videography will be done in view of the possibility of activities of anti-social elements during the bandh. If the road is jammed or blocked at any place, then in coordination with the concerned supervising officer/station manager, or duty magistrate, the obstacle will be removed by talking to the people involved in the strike. No one will be allowed to take the law in hand,” he said.
Jharkhand
Meanwhile, all schools in Jharkhand will remain closed on 20 June. The decision has been taken as a precautionary measure, said Rajesh Sharma, secretary of education department.
Punjab
Punjab police has issued directions to monitor social media platforms to prevent mobilisation of youth and issued guidelines to prevent law and order issues.
Kerala
Kerala police on Sunday said its entire force would be on duty to arrest anyone engaging in violence or destruction of public property. State police chief (SPC) Anil Kant issued guidelines to the personnel to prevent violence against the public as well as forced closure of businesses, a release issued by the State Police Media Centre said, reported Mint.
The SPC directed district police chiefs to ensure protection to courts, KSEB offices, KSRTC, private buses as well as government offices and institutions, it said. Besides that, police would also be putting up pickets and patrolling important locations from tonight, the release said.
The Agnipath scheme, announced by the Central government on 14 June, is intended to streamline the 13-lakh strong armed forces in India and reduce the defence pension bill which has been a source of burden for the government.
Under the new scheme, around 46,000 soldiers between the ages of 17.5 and 21 years will be recruited in the Army, Navy and the Air Force, largely on a four-year short-term contractual basis.
Subsequently, the Centre raised the upper age limit for recruitment under the scheme to 23 years for 2022 as protests against it intensified.
Thereafter, the Central government also announced several incentives including reserving 10 per cent vacancies in its paramilitary and the Defence Ministry for Agnipath retirees and said it would look into any grievance about the new military recruitment scheme “with an open mind’.
Those recruited under the scheme would be known as ‘Agniveers’. After the completion of the four-year tenure, 25 per cent of the recruits from each batch would be offered regular service.
The announcement of the new scheme came in the backdrop of recruitment into the military remaining stalled for over two years.
The Army recruits 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers annually. However, the recruitment could not take place for the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With input from agencies
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