PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun
Pradesh Congress Committee president Ganesh Godiyal has said that instead of wasting thousands of tonnes of oil for lighting the lamps on his birthday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi should regularise the services of the first batch of Agniveers who are retiring from Army after completion of only four years of service. Interacting with the mediapersons at Congress Bhawan on Thursday, Godiyal said that BJP leaders are vying with one another to offer oil for lighting Diyas on the birthday of PM. He said that the PM cheated the youth by introducing the Agnipath scheme. “Army is not just a job, it is a lifelong responsibility and honour. It’s unfair to consider a soldier merely a four-year trained employee. Experience, discipline and expertise in the military are developed over years of service,’’ he said.
The chairman of the election campaign committee of Uttarakhand Congress, Pritam Singh said that more than 4,500 Agniveers from Uttarakhand are retiring from the Army soon. He said that Uttarakhand has a proud military tradition. Thousands of families in the State’s mountainous regions have considered military employment the foundation of their economic and social security for generations. Singh said that the Agnipath scheme has reduced the interest of the youth in serving the armed forces of the country. He said that PM Modi should order scrapping of the Agnipath scheme and restore the traditional system of recruitment in the Army.
The chairman of the election management committee of Uttarakhand Congress, Harak Singh Rawat said recruitment policies should aim to create a strong, trained, and experienced military force. He said that through Agnipath scheme, the government has recruited security guards for the companies of Adani and Ambani who are trained on expense of government. Rawat said that the flaw of the scheme could be understood from the fact that the Agniveers are finding it hard to get married.
The head of the ex-servicemen wing of Uttarakhand Congress, Colonel ( retd) Ram Ratan Negi informed that earlier 80,000 youths used to get recruited in Army which has now reduced to 47,000. “If only 25 per cent of these 47,000 Agniveers will get absorbed as regulars, it means that only 12,000 youths are getting permanent jobs every year in the Army,’’ he said.
