NC, Apni party & AAP seeks immediate rollback of 'Agnipath' scheme

Voicing their support to the protesting Army aspirants in Jammu and Kashmir, National Conference, Apni Party (JKAP) and Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday sought a rollback of the new 'Agnipath' scheme for recruitment of soldiers in the armed forces. Hundreds of army aspirants staged protest demonstrations at different places in Jammu region for the third straight day on Saturday against the scheme.

Expressing dismay over the proposed Agnipath scheme, the National Conference said "the BJP-led union government is playing with the future of the youth of the country."

Extending support to the protesting army aspirants, the NC said they have applied for the posts of general duty in Indian Army in 2020 following which their physical examination was conducted along with the medical examination but their written examination was not conducted even after two years.


Terming the unfolding events across the country as "unfortunate", the party said "this action plan of contract-based recruitment in the forces was not in any way in the interest of people of the country and the Indian Army."

Reacting sharply to the scheme and unfolding situation in the country, JKAP president Altaf Bukhari said he fails to understand what the BJP is getting by teasing the public.

"In J&K, they (BJP leaders) are claiming to win 50 seats in the next assembly elections. I do not think they will be able to show their presence and can move freely because they are playing with the sentiments of the people," Bukhari told reporters on the sidelines of a function to welcome new entrants into the party fold here.

He urged the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to remodify the scheme as the youth are on the roads and have apprehensions which need to be addressed.

Decrying the 'Agnipath' scheme as a "draconian policy" opposed to the interests of the youth, senior AAP leader and former minister Harsh Dev Singh lambasted the BJP-led central government for "setting the entire nation on fire" with its "whimsical" defense recruitment policy.

"The Saffron brigade had been experimenting with the country by bringing freakish laws and anti-people policies. Previously, farmers were forced to languish on roads for more than a year amid introduction of controversial farm bills.

"This time, the government had resorted to playing with the fire by bringing an insane transformation in the recruitment process pertaining to the defense sector without any deliberations and pilot study," Singh alleged.