New Delhi: Opposition parties are keen to keep the pressure on the Narendra Modi government with regards to the controversial Agnipath scheme.
Shortly after Prime Minister Modi claimed that the opposition was “politicising” the Agnipath scheme, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that the PM’s politics was unfortunate.
“They (Congress) did not want our defence forces to have the latest fighter planes. They are opposing the Agnipath scheme which is aimed at making our soldiers young and fighting fit for war,” he said at the Kargil War memorial.
Modi also said that Congress was allegedly saying that the Scheme had been floated to “save on pensions”.
“They forget that a soldier recruited today will be eligible for a pension after 30 years and by then Modi would be 105. They want people to believe that Modi is such a fool that he will play mischief with the country’s defence forces,” he said.
‘Occasion’
Kharge decried the occasion of Modi’s speech was unprecedented.
“It is unfortunate that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is doing petty politics even on occasions like paying tribute to martyrs on Kargil Vijay Diwas,” Kharge said.
In his post on X, Kharge said that no PM has ever done this before.
“Modi ji is saying that his government implemented the Agnipath scheme at the behest of the Army, this is a blatant lie and an unforgivable insult to our valiant Armed Forces,” he added.
Kharge noted how former Army Chief, retired General M.M. Naravane has said on record that 75% of recruits were to be taken for permanency in the scheme’ and 25% of people were to be let go after four years. “But the Modi government did the opposite, and forcibly implemented this scheme for all three Armed Forces,” Kharge wrote.
Kharge also mentioned how Naravane’s book has allegedly been stalled.
“According to news reports, Former Army Chief (Retd) General MM Naravane in his book which the Modi Govt, has stalled from being published, has also said, that the ‘Agnipath Scheme’ was shocking for the Army, and for the Navy and Air Force, it came like a “bolt out of the blue“!” he wrote.
Also read: Agnipath Scheme Was ‘Bolt Out of the Blue’ for Navy and Air Force: Former Army Chief Naravane
Kharge highlighted how the scheme aimed to create professional soldiers only after six months of training, adding that it is endangering national security and the aspirations of the rural youth.
He also noted that Agniveers do not get any pension, no gratuity, no family pension, no liberalised family pension and no education allowance for their children. The National Democratic Alliance government had earlier attempted to claim that the insurance payment made to Ajay Kumar – an Agniveer killed in a land mine explosion on January 18 in Jammu and Kashmir – was part of the ‘one crore’ insurance payout given to his family by the authorities.
“Modi ji, 15 Agniveers have been martyred so far. At least respect their martyrdom. There is a lot of anger and strong opposition among the youth of the country regarding Agniveer! Congress party’s demand is consistent-the Agnipath Scheme should be scrapped!” he said.
Congress veteran P. Chidambaram has also criticised the PM’s stance.
“Agniveer scheme should be scrapped. Modern warfare requires fully-trained soldiers, and the scheme does not give full-trained soldiers. The Agniveer scheme does not solve the needs of the Army,” Chidambaram told NDTV.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MP Mahua Maji and Trinamool Congress MP Dola Sen were also quoted by The New Indian Express as having struck against Modi’s claim.
“We should think about the soldiers on whom the whole nation of 140 crore people relies. What would happen to them after four years when they become unemployed?” Maji asked.
“The Army has always been young, perhaps the PM does not know… They get voluntary retirement while they are young,” Sen added.
