Agnipath scheme: Railways Minister Vaishnaw appeals against violent protests

Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday appealed to the youth to not indulge in violent protests and not damage the property of the Railways.

This comes following the widespread, intensifying violent demonstration which took a more serious turn on Friday when police opened fire on youngsters protesting at the Secunderabad railway station against the Central government's Agnipath scheme. News agency IANS reported 1 person being killed in the protests, while three more were injured.

The situation continues to be tense as a large number of protesters remained in the station and on the tracks. Protesters threw stones at the police, who retaliated with rubber bullets and tear gas shells.


To underline the cause of this massive protest, the youth are reportedly enraged because the government had canceled the recruitment exam for which they had studied for the past three to four years when it introduced the Agnipath scheme.

They stated that their protest would continue until the new programme is repealed by the federal government. As a result, the demonstrators, who sang 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan' and 'Bharat Mata ki Jai,' requested that the government abolish the recently announced Agnipath scheme and keep the current recruiting procedure in place.