Security was strengthened in several states on Monday in protest against the center’s new Agnipath recruitment program. After a policy of allowing young Indians to join the regular army for four years was announced, protests erupted in West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Jharkhand and Assam. As agitation increased in several places, protesters surged, setting trains and vehicles on fire, and damaging private and public property. Now, Congress is set to make a national “peaceful” protest against Agnipath’s “anti-youth” recruitment program on Monday.
Taking to Twitter, Congress General Secretary in-charge Communications Jairam Ramesh said on Sunday, “Tomorrow lakhs of Congress workers across the country will continue peaceful protests against the anti-youth Agnipath scheme and against Modi government’s vendetta politics targeting its MP Rahul Gandhi.”
कांग्रेस के लाखों कार्यकर्ता कल 20 जून को देश भर में मोदी सरकार की युवा विरोधी अग्निपथ योजना व श्री राहुल गांधी पर केंद्रित प्रतिशोध की राजनीति के खिलाफ शांतिपूर्ण विरोध प्रदर्शन जारी रखेंगे। 1/2
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) June 19, 2022
Several organisations will stage protests against the Agnipath scheme at Jantar Mantar in the national capital today. Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai too will join the protest.
“A joint movement will be organized at Jantar Mantar in Delhi at 11 am on June 20 against the Agnipath scheme,” Rai had said in a tweet on Friday.
A total of 46,000 Agniveers will be recruited this year but a top military officer said it will go up to 1.25 lakhs in near future. The entry age for all new recruits in the Armed Forces has been fixed as 17.5 to 21 years of age. However, following the protests, the Centre announced that the upper age limit can be exceeded to 23 for the first batch.
Also read: Delhi Traffic Police issues advisory for routes to be avoided amid Congress’ protests
For all the news update subscribe our YouTube channel ‘DNP India’. You can also follow us on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and TWITTER.
