Agnipath made Indian youth "disappointed", "desperate": Mayawati

Lucknow: The Union government's Agnipath programme has made the youth in the country feel "disappointed and desperate", BSP head Mayavati said on Sunday, reports PTI.

In a series of Hindi tweets, she said, "At a time when barring a handful of people, a vast majority of the country's population, especially the youth, is forced to walk on the 'Agnipath' (path of fire) of poverty, inflation, unemployment and tension, the Centre's 'short-term' Agnipath military recruitment scheme has made them feel disappointed and desperate."

She said, "It is the result of reducing the number and possibilities of recruitments in railways, Army and para-military forces that the youngsters from villages are feeling helpless and cheated. Their anger is boiling up because they are staring at a dark future. The situation should be handled properly."

The opposition parties have stood against the Centre programme, while aspirants unleashed dirty vandalizing of public property, demanding its withdrawal.

Mayavati asked the government to reconsider the programme and appealed to the aspirants to restrain themselves.

Under the Agnipath, released on Tuesday, youths between the ages of 17 and-a-half and 21 years would be inducted for a four-year tenure, while 25 per cent of them will be subsequently inducted for regular service. The recruited youth will be called 'Agniveer'. According to the Centre's claims, the objective of the scheme is to bring down the average age of army personnel.

The new announcement came in the backdrop of recruitments into the military remaining stalled over the coronavirus pandemic for over two years.