Telangana Congress leaders demand Agnipath scheme's withdrawal

HYDERABAD: Top leaders of the Telangana Congress participated in Satyagraha held here as well as New Delhi and demanded that Narendra Modi- government withdraw its Agnipath scheme in the interests of the security of the country and the future of the youth.
While TPCC president A Revanth Reddy and Nalgonda MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy participated in the Satyagraha along with AICC leaders Priyanka Gandhi among others at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, state working presidents T Jayaprakash Jagga Reddy, Maheshwar Goud, J Geetha Reddy, MLA D Sridhar Babu among others observed deeksha at the party office in Hyderabad from 10am to 2pm.
Uttam, a former fighter pilot of the air force, said the Agnipath scheme of the BJP government for recruitment in the armed forces undermines national security. "Agnipath is nothing short of compromising on national security. The scheme is unfair and unjust to lakhs of youth who were looking forward to a career of honour and dignity in the Army, Navy and the Air Force. They are now feeling cheated. It lowers the morale of the armed forces too,” he said.
The armed forces recruit about 60,000 youth annually but there has been no recruitment in the Army, Navy and Air Force for the last two-and-a-half years. There are 1.30 vacancies in the armed forces. Not just the Agnipath scheme but the defence ministry has also initiated the optimisation exercise to reduce the manpower by 15%, he said.
"I spoke to many veterans and service officers. All of them said Agnipath may save some money for the Modi government but it is not in the interests of the nation's security. The country is facing a war-like situation with the Chinese intruding into our borders and the Pakistan forces becoming active on the border. At this stage, the BJP government tinkering with the armed forces is unfortunate and condemnable," Uttam said.
"BJP is trying to blame that some forces are inciting the youth for violence. The protests are spontaneous as lakhs of youth felt cheated and disappointed with the BJP government’s Agnipath scheme," he said.
After six months of training and three-and-a-half years of service, 75 per cent of youth will be discharged without a pension, medical benefits, canteen benefits or other facilities. As an afterthought, the Centre is now announcing that 75 per cent of 'Aginveers' will be absorbed into other jobs.
“I must tell you with my experience, this promise has already been given to the ex-servicemen of this country," he said.
The Congress MP said that the youth wants to serve the country on a long-term and regular basis. This contractual method of induction into the armed forces puts the country's security in danger.
Uttam said: "The spontaneous protest shows the alarming level of unemployment in the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised 2 crore jobs every year and by now his government should've provided 16 crore jobs. The ongoing protests are the result of neglect of the alarming unemployment situation in India."