Manish Tiwari refuses to sign Opposition letter on 'Agnipath' scheme

Congress MP Manish Tewari on Monday did not sign a joint memorandum by Opposition MPs expressing concern over the controversial Agnipath military recruitment scheme, as they were not satisfied with the response of the government during a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Defence.

Six Opposition MPs – Rajani Patil and Shaktisinh Gohil (Congress), Sudip Bandhyopadhyay and Sougata Roy (Trinamool Congress), Supriya Sule (NCP) and AD Singh (RJD) – submitted the memorandum to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh explaining the “lacune” in the scheme while Tewari did not sign it.

Sources said Opposition MPs' memorandum demanded that the government hold more consultations across the country and send the scheme for examination by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence.

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Incidentally, Tewari has voiced his support for the scheme earlier and was at loggerheads with his party over his stand, as the latter made it clear publicly that his article supporting the scheme was his “individual view” and not the party’s. Congress had opposed it, saying it was “penny wise, security foolish”.

Sources said Opposition MPs expressed concern over the “contractual” nature of the scheme with Roy pointing to the incident in Japan where former Prime Minister Shinnzo Abe was shot dead by a former military personnel during a campaign trail last week. One should learn from the incident, Roy was quoted by sources as saying.

Gohil told the meeting that the recruits who are out of job after four years could be a security threat, sources said.

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He also cited the criticism of the scheme by experts and veteran soldiers. Demanding that it should have been launched as a pilot project, he demanded that it should be withdrawn at the earliest as it would affect the morale of the forces and create confusion. Sule and Roy supported him.

The Opposition MPs said that the unemployment scene in the country is worse and the huge number of applications for the scheme itself showed it.

The military is a strategic unit and it is responsible for the security of the country. If a soldier is left out of the military after four years and then does not get jobs, the Opposition MPs asked, what is the assurance that they will not turn rogue.

One of the MPs also referred to the Russia-Ukraine war and said it has amplified that a long-standing army is more effective. Opposition MPs also objected to top military officials holding press conferences instead of the political leadership.