NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav announced on Saturday that the Agnipath scheme will be cancelled within 24 hours if his party comes to power, a day after Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath declared reservations for retired Agniveers.
The INDIA bloc, which includes the Samajwadi Party, had promised during the Lok Sabha election campaigns to scrap this short-term military recruitment scheme.
Yadav made his stance clear in a post on X, stating, “As soon as we come to power, the short-term ‘Agniveer’ military recruitment that compromises the security of the country and plays with the future of the soldiers will be cancelled within 24 hours.”
“This is our demand on ‘Agniveer’ … The old recruitment (model) should be reinstated,” he added in Hindi.
On Friday, UP CM Yogi Adityanath announced that the Uttar Pradesh government would provide weightage to Agniveers returning from service for recruitment in the police and the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC).
The Agnipath scheme, unveiled by the Centre in 2022, is a short-term recruitment policy for youths aged between 17-and-a-half and 21, aimed at the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Typically, this recruitment is based on a four-year contractual period, and those enlisted under this scheme are referred to as Agniveers.
Upon completing their four-year service, 25 percent of the recruits from each batch are eligible for regular service.
In addition to Uttar Pradesh’s announcement, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had earlier declared that 10 percent of vacancies in the Central Armed Police Forces and paramilitary forces would be reserved for ex-Agniveers.
Several state governments have also made parallel declarations for the recruitment of retired Agniveers into their respective police forces.