Ranchi: Youngsters protest outside the Army Recruitment Office (ARO-Jharkhand Chapter) against the 'Agnipath' scheme, in Ranchi, Thursday, June 16, 2022. Centre on Tuesday announced the short-term recruitment plan to enlist young citizens into the armed forces. (PTI Photo)
New Delhi, June 16 (PTI): Protests against the Centre's 'Agnipath' scheme for hiring jawans on a short-term contractual basis on Thursday continue in several party of the country.
Aspirants preparing for jobs in defence forces disrupted railway and road traffic in Bihar, Delhi and Haryana.
Bihar
Trains were set afire, window panes of buses smashed and passersby, including a ruling Bharatiya Janata Party MLA, pelted with stones in Bihar by Army job aspirants whose protest against the Centre's short-term recruitment scheme, 'Agnipath', continued for the second consecutive day.
Police fired teargas shells and charged baton to disperse the angry youngsters who blocked railway tracks, threw burning tyres on roads and performed push-ups and other drills on the streets as a mark of protest against the new recruitment process, under which hiring has been proposed for a four-year-period followed by compulsory retirement, for at least 75 per cent of the personnel, without any pension benefits.
In Nawada, the vehicle of BJP MLA Aruna Devi, who was on her way to a court, was attacked by the agitators who hurled stones at her car, leaving five persons, including the legislator, injured.
"The protesters seemed to have been provoked by the sight of the party flag, fitted on my car, which they tore. My driver, two security guards and two personal staff members have sustained injuries," the MLA told reporters, adding that she was "too shaken" to have registered a police complaint.
Railway property bore the brunt of the protesters as stationary bogeys were set on fire at Bhabhua and Chhapra stations and window panes of compartments smashed at many places.
In Arrah, the railway station was swarmed by a large number of protesters who were dispersed after the police fired teargas shells.
The East Central Railway zone, headquartered in Hajipur, reported massive disruption of rail traffic. Busy routes like Patna-Gaya, Barauni-Katihar and Danapur-DDU were listed among those worst-affected by the stir, officials said.
In Buxar, station manager Rajan Kumar said many trains were stranded at the outer signal as the tracks were blocked by agitators whom police and administrative officials were trying to pacify.
Demonstrations staged by the protesters disrupted road traffic in districts such as Jehanabad, Buxar, Katihar, Saran, Bhojpur and Kaimur, where many locals sustained injuries in incidents of stone-pelting, the officials said.
Details of police action, including FIRs registered in connection with the violence and arrests made in the connection, were not known immediately.
Haryana
Hundreds of young people took to the streets in Haryana's Gurugram, Rewari and Palwal against the Agnipath scheme, with protesters blocking highways.
A police vehicle was damaged in stone pelting in Palwal and the Agra Chowk on National Highway 19 was blocked.
In Gurugram's Bilaspur and Sidhrawali, protesters laid a virtual seize on bus stands and roads and held a protest at Bilaspur Chowk, crippling traffic on the Gurugram-Jaipur highway.
Heavy police force was rushed to these spots to curb the protests against the new scheme to recruit jawans into the army, the navy and the air force for a four-year-period followed by compulsory retirement for most without gratuity and pension benefits.
"Due to a local protest, traffic is diverted at Bilaspur Chowk (NH-48). All commuters using this route are requested to take alternative routes," Gurugram traffic police said in an advisory.
"Our traffic officials are on the job and ensuring that there is no major congestion. Diversions have been made as and where required," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Ravinder Singh Tomar said.
Meanwhile, the protest at Hodal came to end after two hours of blockade.
Ex-soldier and senior Congress leader Captain Ajay Yadav in a statement said that the scheme is aimed to demean the spirit of forces and cut down on benefits being given to army jawans.
"Army is not profession but passion and life. Our districts like Rewari send their sons to serve the nation every year and this demeans their passion. Over four lakh posts are vacant in the army and this cheap attempt to compensate them with small contract employment is unacceptable," Yadav said.
Delhi
More than a dozen defence force aspirants stopped a train at Nangloi Railway Station in outer Delhi by lying down on tracks protesting against the centre's ‘Agnipath' scheme.
According to police, around 15-20 people people gathered at Nangloi Railway Station around 9.45 am to protest against a delay in railway recruitment examinations and against the scheme.
They stopped a train which was bound for Old Delhi from Jind in Haryana, police said.
Police reached the spot immediately where GRP staff was also present, asked the protesters to vacate the railway track peacefully, they said.
The protesters said they had applied for some government jobs two to three years ago, but the examinations for the recruitment have not been conducted yet, and they have crossed the minimum eligibility age now, Deputy Commissioner of Police (outer) Sameer Sharma said.
“At present the situation is under control and all the students have been dispersed from the railway track,” he said.
The central government on Tuesday announced ‘Agnipath' scheme for the recruitment of soldiers in the Army, Navy, and Air Force on a short-term contractual basis, apparently to cut the ballooning salary and pension bills and carve out a youthful profile of the armed forces.
The move has drawn the ire of defence force aspirants, who have taken to streets at a number of places, especially in Bihar.
