Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday slammed the BJP-led central government over the Agnipath scheme, alleging that the saffron camp was trying to create its own “armed cadre base through the new defence recruitment programme.
Terming the scheme as an insult to the armed forces, Banerjee also wondered whether the BJP plans to hire Agniveer soldiers as “watchmen” at its party offices, after their four-year service period.
“The BJP is trying to create its own armed cadre base through this scheme. What will they do after four years? The party wants to give arms into the hands of the youth,” the TMC boss said in the assembly.
Banerjee also said the BJP is trying to fool the masses ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls by announcing such schemes.
“They had promised two crore jobs every year. But, now they are only fooling the people of the country in the name of these schemes, she added.
The BJP legislative party staged a walkout from the assembly protesting against Banerjee’s remarks.
Agnipath Scheme:
On June 13, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government announced the Agnipath Scheme. The Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated it along with the chiefs of all three defence forces – General Manoj Mukund Naravane (Indian Army), Admiral Karambir Singh (Indian Navy), and Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh (Indian Air Force).
Since its announcement, the scheme has made ripples throughout the country with many young men from India’s lower middle class and below poverty line backgrounds, who have been preparing for the recruitment day in and out, protesting in the streets against the scheme.
