Why Did Central Govt's Agnipath Recruitment Scheme Trigger Protests?

Agitations and protests continued on the second day against the Centre's Agnipath recruitment for Indian youth in the armed forces.

Protests by the army job aspirants erupted in Bhihar Rajasthan and Telangana against the scheme over job security concerns and other issues. 

The Cabinet committee had cleared the Agnipath scheme on June 14. Under this scheme the youth aged between 17.5 and 21 will be recruited into the three services in a contract for four years. 

Two days after the announcement of the scheme, the army aspirants disrupted rail and raod traffic in several parts of Bihar against the recruitment scheme for its limited term of employment followed by compulsory retirement for most without gratuity and pension benefits. The agitation turned violent as the protestors burned tyres, set trains on fires and vandalised buses raising slogans against the scheme and the central government. 

On Friday, the protests has been spread to Southern state of Telangana. Hundreds of army aspirants gathered at Secunderabad railway station to protest agianst the scheme and set trains on fire. 

The railway police and other forces swung into the action to pacify the situation and reportedly opened fire against the protestors. According to the reports, a total of six persons have suffered injuries in the protests. 

Aspirants said they are unhappy with the changes introduced under the new recruitment scheme. Among many other demands, the students are raising their concerns for over the term, no pension provisions for those released early, and the age restriction that now makes many of them ineligible.

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