Making a last-ditch attempt to consolidate nearly 3.59 lakh ex-servicemen voters in Punjab and their families in their favour, the Congress organised an event ‘Veterans against Agniveer’ here today.
Hosting the event in Jalandhar, which is the headquarters of the Vajra Corps, Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa had three retired Army officers on the panel, including former Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Harwant Singh, ex-Director of General Infantry Lt Gen Jasbir Singh Dhaliwal and 1971 war hero Brig KS Kahlon.
Lt Gen Dhaliwal said, “The Agnipath scheme has no benefits and many drawbacks. If the Central Government wanted to introduce such a project, they should have first run a pilot project to identify its flaws and other issues. But the Central Government imposed it straightaway. It will have many repercussions socially, economically and strategically. Our 75 per cent boys will retire at the age of 21 or 22 with Rs 11.71 lakh in hand. Even though it is being promised that they will be absorbed in other forces and jobs, there is no guarantee on that. There already are reports that the DGPs of two states have said that these boys won’t be fit for policing as they are expected to be using minimal force even as their conditioning in the Army is otherwise. The parents of these boys would still be in job while they would have retired already. There will be issues in their marriages too”.
He added, “There are other problems too which our youngsters are facing. Agnipath test is being conducted only in Hindi and English, but not in Punjabi. Punjabi youth used to join the Army by taking exams in Punjabi. This will affect their prospects”.
Brig Kahlon opined, “The government did not take the viewpoint of any stakeholders. Only the Army has introduced this scheme to save its finances. Had it been so good, the paramilitary forces and the police too would have opted for it. The biggest flaw with the system is that over 65,000 personnel retire from the Army every year, but there shall be only 46,000 recruitments under Agnipath scheme and a gap of 20,000 strength will show up each year.”
Partap Bajwa, in his address, said, “During our government, young men were recruited at the age of 18 and served the country for 18 years. But the BJP has reduced this period to just four years, causing significant harm to states like Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. No soldier is happy with the scheme. BJP is trying to create a private army in the country, which poses a major threat to the nation. If our government comes to power, we will abolish the Agnipath scheme.”