Agnipath Scheme: Congress to Launch 'Satyagraha' on June 19

The Congress will hold a 'satyagraha' against the Central Government’s ‘Agnipath’at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on June 19.

All MPs, Congress Working Committee (CWC) members, and All India Congress Committee (AICC) office bearers will participate in the protest.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that just as Prime Minister Narendra Modi had to withdraw the farm laws, he will have to accept the demand of the youth and rollback the Agnipath defence recruitment scheme.

It may be mentioned that protests have broken out in various parts of the country against the new recruitment scheme. In some places, the protests turned violent as trains were set ablaze.

Scores of people have been arrested or detained by the police in various states. The opposition parties, trade unions and outfits of students, youth and farmers pledged support for the protests and demanded immediate reversal of the scheme that “contractualises” Army jobs.

Several trains in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Telangana have been cancelled owing to the violent protests. As per the latest reports by the Railways Ministry, 94 Mail Express and 140 Passenger Trains have been cancelled, whereas 65 Mail Express and 30 Passenger Trains have been partially cancelled to run in the country.

Meanwhile, a plea was moved in the Supreme Court (SC) on Saturday seeking a probe by a Special Investigation Team into the recent wave of violent protests against the 'Agnipath' scheme. The plea also sought an examination of the damage to public property, particularly the Indian Railways during the protests.

‘Agnipath’ is a recruitment scheme recently introduced by the Central government to bring a change in the recruitment process of the Armed Forces. With the new military recruitment scheme facing a backlash by opposition, the Centre has decided to bring a change in the upper age limit for recruiting Agniveers.

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