SHILLONG, June 20: The intense protests all over the country against the Agnipath scheme spilled into the city on Monday with several job aspirants taking out a protest march denouncing the Centre’s newly-announced four-year recruitment policy for individuals below the rank of officer in the Army, the Navy and the Air Force.
The protesters marched with placards and banners amidst chanting of slogans demanding that the common entrance examination and the Army recruitment rally be conducted at the earliest.
They were planning to march towards IGP but were stopped by the police.
Some of the youths said they want to join the Army to serve the nation but not for four years only.
“We are not going to a circus. The BJP government is asking us to open startups after four years. We don’t want it as there are several Ambanis and other rich people in the country. We only want to serve the country by joining the Army,” one of the aspirants said.
According to them, the Tour of Duty (ToD) recruitment mode in which civilians will be recruited into the armed forces (under Agnipath) for four years will only spoil the dream of many youths aspiring to secure permanent jobs in the Army.
Another youth said they have come to Shillong from various parts of the state to demand that the examination and the recruitment rally are conducted at the earliest.
“They held the recruitment rally in March 2021 in Happy Valley. Now we have been informed that the examination has been cancelled. We were told that it will now be done as per Agnipath scheme. We request that our rights be protected. We strongly oppose the Centre’s decision to scrap the examination,” the youth added.
