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implementation of the scheme. There was no official word about the meetings between the prime minister and the service chiefs.
Several parts of the country witnessed violent protests after the new military recruitment model was announced on June 14. The Agnipath scheme provides for recruitment of youths between the age bracket of 17-and-half years to 21 for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years.
Farmers’ collective Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), which had spearheaded the agitation against the Centre’s now-scrapped agri laws, on Monday dubbed Agnipath as another ploy to harm peasants and announced a nationwide protest on June 24 against the Centre’s new military recruitment scheme. In a statement, the SKM declared its support for the ongoing protests and appealed to the youths to hold peaceful demonstrations against the Agnipath scheme, which it decried as anti-military, anti-farmer and anti-national.
Several organisations on Monday held a demonstration against the Agnipath scheme at Jantar Mantar. All the member organisations of Sanyukt Rojgaar Andolan Samiti (SRAS) including Desh Ki Baat Foundation, Chatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS), Revolutionary Youth Association (RYA), Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and the Aam Aadmi Party youth wing participated in the “peaceful” demonstration, the SRAS said.
“The Agneepath scheme by the Modi government betrays the youth and weakens the army,” it alleged. Protests have erupted in several states since Wednesday against the Agnipath scheme to recruit jawans into the army, the navy and the air force for a four-year-period followed by compulsory retirement for most without gratuity and pension benefits.
Heavy deployment of police remained in place on Monday across Bihar in view of the ‘Bharat bandh’ against Agnipath scheme of defence recruitment, although the shutdown call received a tepid response in the state. Additional Director General of Police, Headquarters, J S Gangwar said that “detailed and elaborate security arrangements” were in place at all vital installations, including railway premises, and “no untoward incident took place during the Bharat bandh”.
According to a PHQ statement, altogether 922 people have been arrested in connection with the large-scale violence and arson in a major part of the state last week. Gangwar said that 183 people were arrested on June 16, the first day of major disturbances and a day later, when the violence escalated, the number went up to 306, which “resulted in a substantial decline in the number of incidents that took place on June 18, even though there was a call for Bihar bandh”.
Over 600 trains were cancelled on Monday with operations again disrupted by protests against the Agnipath defence recruitment scheme. Of the 612 trains affected, 602 trains were cancelled, including 223 mail and express trains and 379 passenger trains, the Railways said in a statement. Four mail and express trains and six passenger trains were partially cancelled. The worst-affected zone was the East Central Railway, which is headquartered at Hajipur and comprises Sonpur, Samastipur, Danapur, Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, and Dhanbad divisions.
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