Agnipath protests simmer down, 94,000 applications received in 4 days

• The army recruitment scheme gets nearly 57,000 applications to fill up 3,000 vacancies in just three days.
• This comes after violent protests in various states that led to several trains being set on fire, and bundhs.
• The recruitment process in the Indian Air Force under the Agnipath scheme will end on July 5.

The Agnipath scheme, which had drawn nation-wide protests and criticism across the country, has received nearly 94,000 applications for 3,000 vacancies in just four days, the Indian Air Force updated the number on Monday, June 27.


“56960 ! That's the total number of applications received till date from future #Agniveer in response to the #Agnipath recruitment application process on agnipath vayu.cdac.in,” IAF said in its earlier tweet on Sunday, June 26.

The recruitment process in the Indian Air Force under the Agnipath scheme will end on July 5. The IAF will recruit 3,000 Agniveers this year and their training is slated to begin from December 30, after exams and medical tests which will be held in two phases.

This comes just a week after violent protests in various states that led to several trains being set on fire, and bundhs.

Protests are on, but have taken a non-violent turn

However, it is to be noted that the protests against the radical army recruitment scheme are still ongoing in Haryana, Punjab and West Bengal.

The farmer unions of Punjab, along with members of Naujawan Bharat Sabha held protests in 90 places of the state against the scheme on Friday, June 24. They also submitted memorandums addressed to the President of India via the Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) and Deputy Commissioners (DCs) of their areas.

“It is surprising that the government did not follow any minimum procedure before announcing such far-reaching changes. No pilot exercise of the new recruitment process was done anywhere. There was no discussion on these proposals before either Houses of Parliament or the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defense Affairs,” the memorandum read.

The memorandum also said that no consultations were held with stakeholders like army aspirants, serving jawans and officers, public representatives – all those who will be affected by the scheme.

Thousands of farmers hit the streets of Haryana, called out by Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) and Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), to protest against the Agnipath scheme, on Friday.

Several students, civil society organizations and members of trade unions also joined the protest.

“A nationwide protest against the Agnipath scheme was observed by farmers’ bodies on Friday. Peaceful demonstrations were held and memorandums submitted at the district and block headquarters. Similar protests were organized in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, and other states,” said Krantikari Kisan Union leader Darshan Pal.

According to media reports, protests in the Gurgaon region have been scheduled for today, Monday, June 27.

SEE ALSO:
Why are thousands of youngsters up in arms against the Agnipath scheme?
After Anand Mahindra, Harsh Goenka offers jobs to demobilized Agniveers