Chandigarh, June 4
In North India, a region seeped in martial tradition and contributing a significant chunk of manpower to the armed forces, the introduction of the Agniveer scheme for the recruitment into the rank and file of the armed forces is among the factors affecting the outcome of the 2024 General Election.
Rolled out by the BJP government in June 2022, the scheme did not go down well with the defence community, which was of the opinion that not only did it downgrade the forces’ war-fighting ability, but was also a raw deal for the soldiers as it put them at a huge disadvantage vis-à-vis not only uniformed personnel in the Central Armed Police Forces, but also other government employees.
Over three lakh serving personnel in the three services belong to Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. The combined strength of registered ex-servicemen in these states is about 6.20 lakh. Members of their families too are on the electoral roll.
“Residents in the rural areas of Punjab conveyed a strong sentiment against the scheme because of post-release uncertainty and limited employment opportunities,” Brig KS Kahlon (retd), state president of the All-India Defence Brotherhood and former director, Defence Services Welfare, said.
In Haryana, the introduction of the Agnipath scheme for recruitment into the armed forces proved a crucial factor in the Lok Sabha election. The state faces a tough challenge in terms of unemployment and a big chunk of its youth used to join the Army till recently.
However, after the introduction of the Agnipath scheme, a significant portion of youth from Haryana seem to have lost interest in military service. The local youth as well as elderly residents feel that military service has been robbed of its honour and reduced to a temporary job.
The Congress leaders raked up the issue at their rallies and public meetings. Rahul Gandhi announced at a rally in Charkhi Dadri district that the Agnipath scheme would be scrapped if their party came to power.
In Himachal Pradesh, the issue, too, appears to have made a dent into the BJP vote bank as, despite winning all four Lok Sabha seats, the victory margins of the candidates have been reduced to even less than half of their 2019 win.