Rahul Gandhi criticises govt for destroying dreams of youths with Agnipath scheme

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi expressed his support for individuals bringing up the problem of unemployment "from the streets to Parliament" on Tuesday and claimed that the government's introduction of the Agnipath recruiting plan had crushed the ambitions of countless young people.

The Congress leader posted a picture of himself with some young people on Instagram and captioned the shot, claiming that the group is from Champaran in Bihar.

"The government has destroyed the dreams of countless youths by cancelling the permanent recruitment process of the Army and the Indian Air Force under the guise of the Agniveer scheme, which was brought in to provide 'temporary recruitment'," Gandhi said in the post in Hindi.

"It is sad that the struggle of youths, who walked around 1,100 kilometres from the 'land of Satyagraha' Champaran to reach Delhi, has not been shown by the media," he said.

"We are with the youths raising the issue of employment from the streets to Parliament," Gandhi added.

The Agnipath scheme, announced on June 14, 2022, provides for the recruitment of youngsters in the age bracket of 17-and-a-half to 21 years for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years.

With PTI inputs