Wednesday, 24 August 2022 | PNS | Dehradun
Congress, AAP term letter as vindication of their stand on the Agnipath scheme for recruitment in armed forces
The letter written by the Tourism and Culture minister Satpal Maharaj to the Union Defence minister Rajnath Singh alleging violation of rules in the recruitment of Agniveers in the State has given ammunition to the opposition parties to attack the Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the armed forces. The Uttarakhand Congress said that the letter of the Minister has vindicated the stand the party has taken on the Agnipath scheme.
In his letter to Rajnath Singh, Maharaj said that in the recruitment rally in Kotdwar, the 1,600 metre race was completed in only five minutes as against the norm of 5.40 minutes. He also said that authorities are selecting candidates having height 170 cm and above while for the residents of the mountainous areas of the State, the norm of minimum height is 163 cm.
The Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Karan Mahara said that Maharaj has said that the rules are not being followed in recruitment of Agniveers which is very serious. He said that the Lieutenant General ( Rtd) T P S Rawat has also stated that the Agnipath scheme was launched in a haste. The PCC president said that the manhandling of the youngsters in the recruitment rally, flaws in the selection process and selection of very less number of youngsters as compared to past such rallies proves that the government is doing a mere formality by holding the recruitment rally. Mahara said that it appears that the only objective of the government was to show that the crowds of the youth are thronging the recruitment rallies and wanted to prove that the scheme is popular. He said that the unemployed have no option but to accept the Agnipath scheme even though it is only four years. “I firmly believe that the Agnipath scheme would weaken the armed forces and would make our borders unsafe,’’ he said.
The Vice President of Uttarakhand Congress Surya Kant Dhasmana said that the minister’s letter to defence minister has proved the stand taken by the Congress party correct on Agnipath scheme.
When contacted, the Vice President of the Uttarakhand unit of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), R P Raturi said that the recruitment rally is a big deceit with the aspirants and the flaying of the norms suggest that the government is not interested in recruiting personnel for armed forces. He said that the residents of Uttarakhand are eligible for relaxation in height in the recruitment which is not given in the Kotdwar rally.
