Rahul Gandhi calls Agnipath "new experiment" by PM Modi's "laboratory"

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hit out at the central government over the Agnipath army recruitment scheme, saying the country's security and the future of the youth are at stake with this "new experiment" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "laboratory".

Every year sixty soldiers retire, out of which government jobs are given to only 3,000, Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

"What will be the future of thousands of 'Agniveers' retiring after 4-year contracts," the former Congress chief asked.

"With this new experiment of the Prime Minister's laboratory, both the security of the country and the future of the youth are in danger," Gandhi said, PTI reported.

Many parts of the country witnessed protests after the announcement of the plan, which seeks to recruit youth between the ages of 17-and-half and 21 for only four years, with a clause of retaining 25 per cent or an additional 15 years.

For 2022, the upper age limit was raised to 23 years.