PROTESTS ERUPT AGAINST AGNIPATH SCHEME ; RAIL DISTRUPTED , BLOCKED ROAD

Patna (The Quiver) :On Monday , Protests erupted in Bihar against the “Agnipath scheme” announced by the Centre for entry into defence services. Angry agitators disrupted railway and road traffic in various parts of the state.

Most of the protesters were candidates who have been waiting for two years for the defence recruitment process to start.

Reports of train traffic disruption came from Buxar, Begusarai, Bhojpur and in Muzaffarpur. Stones were pelted on some trains in Buxar . Some trains also remained stranded on platform. In Muzaffarpur, protesters blocked the road near the railway station and other places.

“The physical and medical tests of candidates from eight districts were conducted over two years ago, but the written examination is still awaited. The authorities come up with one reason or the other for the delay, while the students continue to suffer. The authorities are also not giving a clear statement on this,” said one of the aspirants, adding that the ministry of defence (MoD) should relax the age bar so that those who have spent the last two years waiting should get a fair chance.

The aspirants were also unhappy with the Agnipath scheme, which gives four-year employment with defence services to youth. “We demand the resumption of common entrance exam and withdrawal of the ‘tour of duty’. The new scheme of four-year employment is a joke against the aspirants. There is no clarity on this,” another said.

“If the TOD scheme is implemented in armed forces, it will not just be a setback for the lakhs of over-aged aspirants waiting for recruitment for past two years, but will also leave the soldiers in quandary once they retire at the age of just 24-25,” said Rishav Ranjan, an aspirant.

Some of the aspirants said they had been asked by the authorities to wait for recruitment notification and updates on the army recruiting website for details.

According to the 2011 census, army aspirants from Bihar and Jharkhand have a 10% quota reserved for them.

Meanwhile, on the “Agnipath” scheme, Air Marshal RJ Duckworth, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Central Air Command, held a press conference on the premises of Bihar Jharkhand Sub- Area headquarters in Danapur on Wednesday. He said it is a self-reliant scheme and the recruitment process will commence within three months, starting off from Jharkhand.

He said there was no information from the MoD on the fate of exam conducted two years ago.