Bharat Bandh LIVE Updates: Punjab, Bihar, UP on alert as protests against Agnipath scheme intensify

On Sunday, addressing the youth of the country, the Defence Ministry had explained the policy in detail but ruled out any rollback of the Agnipath scheme. The protesters have now called for Bharat Bandh against the recruitment scheme.

Bharat Bandh: Several states have been put on high alert on Monday as protests against the Centre’s new Agnipath recruitment scheme have intensified. Some organisations have called for a bandh today and will stage protests against the Agnipath scheme at Jantar Mantar in the national capital. The new recruitment policy for the Armed Forces for a period of four years, was announced on June 14, which was followed by protests in states including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Jharkhand and Assam. As the agitation intensified in some places, protestors went on the rampage setting trains on fire, torching vehicles and damaging both private and public properties. Congress will also hold “peaceful” protests across the country on Monday against the “anti-youth” Agnipath recruitment scheme. A total of 46,000 Agniveers will be recruited this year but a top military officer said it will go up to 1.25 lakhs in near future.

AAP says Agnipath scheme ‘a big fraud’ with India’s youth

Amid raging protests against the Centre’s Agnipath scheme, the AAP on Sunday dubbed it “a big fraud” with the country’s youth and demanded its rollback, alleging that the Narendra Modi government is making misleading claims about the benefits of the new military recruitment plan.

At a press conference, AAP Rajya Sabha MP and spokesperson Sanjay Singh presented representatives of about 4,000 job aspirants who claimed to have cleared all the tests conducted for recruitment into paramilitary forces in 2018 but were yet to get their appointment letters.

VK Singh slams Agnipath protesters

Amid violence over the ‘Agnipath’ scheme, Union minister and former Army chief General V K Singh (retd) on Sunday slammed the protesters saying if they don’t like the new policy for recruitment into the armed forces they shouldn’t opt for it.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in Maharashtra’s Nagpur city, Singh said the Indian Army doesn’t conscript soldiers and that aspirants can join of their own volition.

Congress to hold nationwide protests today against Agnipath scheme

Congress workers will hold “peaceful” protests across the country on Monday against the “anti-youth” Agnipath scheme and the central government’s “vendetta politics” targeting party leader Rahul Gandhi, who is being questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.