Agnipath Scheme will kill the youth, finish Army: Priyanka Gandhi

Slamming the Centre over Agnipath Scheme, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday said that the scheme will 'kill the youth' of the country and will 'finish the Army'.

She said that the government is not working for the poor and youth but for big industrialists. Her remarks came at a 'Satyagraha' protest held by the party today in support of those agitating against the scheme.

Vadra appealed to youths to protest peacefully against the Agnipath scheme, assuring the party's full support

While addressing the mediapersons at Satyagrah, she said, "Government is not working for poor and youth but for big industrialists."

"Recognise fake nationalists, the entire country is with you in your struggle," she said while addressing the youth.

"This scheme will kill the youth of the country, will finish Army... Please see the intent of this govt and topple it. Bring a govt that is true to the nation, and protects the country's assets. I urge you to do peaceful protest but don't stop," she added.

The grand old party held a 'satyagraha' on Sunday at Jantar Mantar in solidarity with the youth protesting against Central Government's Agnipath Recruitment Scheme.

All MPs, CWC members, and AICC office bearers participated in the protest.

Protests have broken out in various parts of the country against the new recruitment scheme in the Armed Forces. In some places, the protests turned violent as trains were set ablaze.

Earlier on Saturday, one person died in Telangana's Secunderabad on Friday as protests against the newly announced military recruitment policy, Agnipath, turned violent.

Earlier, protesters torched compartments of a train in Bihar's Samastipur and those in another train at Lakhisarai station.

As many as 340 train services were affected on Friday due to youth's agitation against the recently launched Agnipath recruitment scheme.

Notably, Agnipath Scheme was launched by the government, on June 14, in an effort to bring a change in the recruitment process of the Armed Forces. With the new military recruitment scheme facing a backlash by Opposition, the Centre has decided to bring a change in the upper age limit for recruiting Agniveers.

Granting a one-time waiver, the Centre on June 16, 2022, announced that the Agniveer upper age limit for recruitments via Agnipath Scheme has been extended to 23 years from 21 years.The scheme is called Agnipath and the youth selected under this scheme will be known as Agniveers. Agnipath allows patriotic and motivated youth to serve in the Armed Forces for a period of four years.