BJP’s Varun Gandhi raises questions on ‘Agnipath’ scheme; Rahul, Priyanka, Left join in questioning the scheme

The Pilibhit MP shot off a letter to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh urging him to make the government stand clear

At a time Opposition and several veterans are questioning the Centre's 'Agnipath' scheme that envisages recruitment of youth on short-term contract in military, the ruling BJP is facing questions from within, with party MP Varun Gandhi on Thursday warning that it will give rise to disaffection among youth as he raised doubts about the efficacy of the programme.

The Pilibhit MP, who has earlier raised critical questions on agriculture and unemployment among others and questioned certain policies of the Narendra Modi government, shot off a letter to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh urging him to make the government stand clear, even as Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra too waded into the issue to corner the government.

Left parties CPI(M) and CPI demanded the scrapping of the scheme, saying it was "criminal to call upon our youth to be prepared to make the supreme sacrifice without the minimum protection of job security".

In his letter, Varun said that the corporate sector does not show much interest in hiring regular military personnel who retire after 15 years and wondered what will be the prospects of 'Agniveers' who get out of the military after a four year term.

He said the scheme will disrupt their education and also they will find it difficult to get another job or more education after they are rendered jobless after four years.

"As 75% of soldiers will become unemployed after four years and their total numbers will keep rising every year, it will give rise to more disaffection among the youth. We will also have to think about those youth who have crossed the age bar and could not attend any recruitment rally because no such rally was organised due to Covid-19," Varun said.

Also, he said, the scheme would be an "unnecessary burden" on the defence budget, as it will result in a waste of training cost with only 25% of the recruits retained after four years.

In a tweet, Rahul said, ""No rank, no pension, no direct recruitment for two years, no stable future after four years, no respect shown by the government for the army. Listen to the voice of unemployed youths of the country, don't take 'agnipareeksha' of their patience by making them walk on 'Agnipath', Mr prime minister."

Priyanka tweeted, "what will the new army recruitment scheme give them? After four years, no job guarantee, no pension facility = no rank, no pension. Narendra Modi-ji, don't crush the dreams of the youth."

In a statement, the CPI(M) Polit Bureau demanded that ‘Agnipath’ scheme be scrapped and regular recruitment into the armed forces be undertaken urgently.

Strongly disapproving of the scheme that does "disservice to India’s national interests", the CPI(M) said professional armed forces cannot be raised by recruiting ‘soldiers on contract’. "This scheme, to save pension money, severely compromises the quality and efficiency of our professional armed forces," it said.

The CPI(M) said there has been no recruitment in the Indian Army for the last two years. "Instead of recruiting regular soldiers into the armed forces this scheme leaves such contract soldiers with no other prospects of employment after their four years. This creates a dangerous situation where they may end up serving private militias. This has hazardous implications for our social fabric already under severe strain," it said.

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"It is criminal to call upon our youth to be prepared to make the supreme sacrifice without the minimum protection of job security. The spontaneous protests in various parts of the country, reflects the anger against this scheme," it said.

The CPI National Secretariat said any dilution in the service conditions of defence personnel will only harm the security and sovereignty of the country.

"Contract appointment and short-term employment after imparting full-fledged training at the cost of the exchequer will not only affect the quality of the services but also will harm the future of the trained personnel who will find it very difficult to get a suitable job. The party warns the government against tinkering with the present set up of recruitment, promotion, etc, in the defence services," the CPI added.