Promising a rollback of the Agnipath scheme, the Congress is planning to reach out to 35-40 lakh young men and women who, on average, appear for recruitment rallies each year as part of the ‘Jai jawan’ campaign.
Under Agnipath, men and women in the age group of 17.5 to 21 years are recruited for Army, Navy and Air Force for a four-year period. Not more than 25% of the total strength of the retiring batch is selected for the permanent cadre.
“Each year, 35-40 lakh personnel appear for the recruitment rallies. But since the Agniveer scheme has been launched, this number has drastically reduced. In 2023-24, only 10 lakh persons appeared for the rally. It clearly shows the simmering discontent and a feeling of betrayal,” a source in Congress said.
On January 31, during the course of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi met a group of aspiring recruits in Bihar. The Congress uploaded a short video of the interaction, where Mr. Gandhi assured that, if his party came to power, they would press for a rollback of the scheme, and if not, then at least ensure Agniveers received the same benefits as the permanent cadres, which is currently denied.
The campaign will run in three phases. In the first phase, Congress workers are to reach the households of young aspirants and of retired defence personnel, and those who are deployed as Agniveer, with a nyay patra (an assurance paper) stating that the scheme would be reviewed. The other promise is for the 1.5 lakh youth who, during the course of 2019-2020, cleared the recruitment exam, but were not commissioned as the COVID-19 pandemic had hit.
“The majority of them were not given any cogent reason as to why they were not being commissioned, but some of them have been told they are now over-age,” the source added.
The subsequent phases will involve a day-long dharna at the Shahid Chowks (martyrs’ square) in villages, and a padayatra at the district headquarters.
While the party insists that this outreach is not aimed at electoral gains alone, by Congress’s own estimates, the scheme will adversely impact youth in at least 120 Lok Sabha constituencies, and therefore could help them target first-time voters, who have been steadfast supporters of the Modi government.
