Agnipath won’t take in violent protesters: MoD
NEW DELHI: Agnipath aspirants will be rejected if they have been accused of arson or vandalism, a senior military official said on Sunday, signalling a hardening of stance on the violent protests against the recruitment programme that have disrupted train services across the country and led to the destruction of hundreds of vehicles and coaches.
The official also ruled out a rollback of recruitment scheme despite widespread protests.
The comments came a day ahead of a planned protest over the scheme in Delhi, and close on the heels of a spree of assurances by various ministries that those who are not absorbed in the military after their four-year Agnipath stint will have ample job opportunities elsewhere.
“Every individual who wants to join the armed forces through the Agnipath scheme will have to submit a pledge that they were neither part of any protest nor were involved in any violence. Nobody can join the forces without police verification... We have made the provisions,” said Lt General Anil Puri, the additional secretary of the department of military affairs.
The official, alleging the protests were instigated by “inimical forces” as well as some coaching institutes, said discipline was paramount for the armed forces.
“The foundation of the Indian armed forces is discipline.
There is no space for arson. There is no problem if you show your anger and engage in talks. But there is no space for arson and vandalism.”
The official defended the scheme and said the announcements in recent days of reserving jobs for those who leave the military at the end of the fouryear Agnipath scheme was planned for long.
“The announcements regarding the reservations were preplanned and not in reaction to the arson that happened after Agnipath scheme announcement,” Lt Gen Puri added, speaking a briefing with officials from all three services.
To a question on whether the government was reviewing or rolling back the scheme because of the protests, Lt Gen Puri said: “No, why should there be a rollback?”
The three services of the military came out with a broad schedule of enrolment under the new policy and asserted that it was aimed at bringing down the age profile of the armed forces. “By December first week, we will get the first batch of 25,000 Agniveers and the second batch would be inducted
around February 2023, taking the number to 40,000,” said Lt Gen Bansi Ponappa.
Air Marshal SK Jha, the officer-in-charge of personnel at the Indian Air Force, said registrations for the first batch will start from June 24 and from July 24, the first phase of the online examination process will begin. “The first batch would be enrolled by December and training would commence by December 30,” he said.
Lt Gen Puri defended the scheme, calling it a “long-pending reform”.
NEW DELHI: The Centre on Sunday banned 35 WhatsApp groups for spreading fake news on the new military recruitment scheme Agnipath and Agniveers, the Union ministry of home affairs said. At least 10 people have been arrested on charges of rumour-mongering and organising protests.
The Centre has also issued a number -- 8799711259 -- for WhatsApp fact-checking, the home ministry said.
The crackdown comes amid reports of social media platforms, particularly WhatsApp, being used for mobilising protests in states like Bihar, which has witnessed violent protests that disrupted train services and led to the destruction of several train bogies and vehicles.
On June 17, the Bihar government suspended internet services in 12 districts till Sunday, saying that it was being used to transmit objectionable content in order to spread rumours with an intent to incite the public and cause damage to life and property.
The district administration in Patna also said that the informaprotests collected from the mobile phones of arrested protesters pointed to the role of coaching centres.
On Saturday, the Telangana Police arrested the owner of a coaching institute in Narasaraopet town of Palnadu district in Andhra Pradesh for allegedly instigating the youths to participate in the against the Agnipath scheme. The detained coaching institute owner, Avula Subba Rao, has been accused of creating a WhatsApp group called Hakimpet Army Soldiers, which comprised hundreds of army aspirants. In this group, he had allegedly sent messages to all the members asking them to take part in the protests.
Despite widespread protests, the Centre on Sunday ruled out a rollback of the Agnipath scheme for recruitments to the armed forces for a four-year tenure. The defence ministry said that aspirants accused of arson or vandalism will not be recruited and asserted that “every individual who wants to join the armed forces through the Agnipath scheme will have to submit a pledge that they were neither part of any protest nor were involved in any violence. Nobody can join the forces without police verification...”