‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan Sammelans’ to be organised between 7th to 14th August, Agnipath scheme is disastrous for national security, armed forces, unemployed youth and farming families, Struggle against Agnipath is to continue till the scheme is withdrawn
Farmers, ex-servicemen and youth of the country have joined hands to begin a sustained campaign against the disastrous ‘Agnipath scheme’ announced by the government of India. This was announced in a joint press conference by Samyukta Kisan Morcha (a joint platform of hundreds of farmers organisation that successfully led the struggle against three anti-farm laws), United Front of Ex-Servicemen (that has completed 2600 days of continuous struggle for One-Rank One-Pension) & various youth organisations protesting against the Agnipath scheme in particular and unemployment in general. They announced holding of Jai Jawan Jai Kisan Sammelan in selected places between 7th to 14th August to mark the beginning of this campaign.
The speakers reiterated their opposition to the Agnipath scheme on the following grounds:
1. It has put to an end to the tried & tested method of regular, permanent recruitment to the armed forces.
2. It would mean a drastic reduction in the size of armed forces, from the present sanctioned strength of 14 lakhs to merely 7 lakhs.
3. Replacing bulk of the regular recruitment by contractual Agniveers would seriously hamper operational capacity and morale of the armed forces at a time when external threats to national security are on the rise.
4. Termination of on-going recruitment is a betrayal of those aspirants who had worked towards it for years and were waiting for final results of their hard work.
5. This would mean severe jolt to the unemployed youth already facing reduction in public-sector employment opportunities.
6. This is a serious setback to farming families who have contributed to the nation by sending their youth to the armed forces.
7. The proposed ‘All India All Class recruitment’ would severely reduce the share of regions like Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, Uttarakhand, western UP and eastern Rajasthan that have contributed to the armed forces for generations, besides affecting the morale of the regiments.
This campaign aims to educate the public about the disastrous consequences of the controversial Agnipath scheme and compel the central government, by using democratic, peaceful and constitutional means, to roll back the scheme. If the farm laws were dire, the Agnipath scheme is disastrous. With our kisans and jawans in distress, the very backbone of our nation is in the danger of breaking. Our silence cannot be the reason for the government to bulldoze and destroy the protectors and feeders of the nation. We have stopped them once, we can stop them again.
The first step in this campaign would be Jai Jawan Jai Kisan Sammelans between 7th to 14th August. Some of the major Sammelans are as follows.
1. 7th August: Narwana (District Jind, Haryana), Jaat Dharamshala; Mathura (UP), Managadhi; Kolkata (WB)
2. 9th August: Rewari (Haryana), Yadav Dharamshala; Muzzafarnagar (UP), Betawada village
3. 10th August: Indore (MP); Meerut (UP) Chidori village
4. 11th August: Patna (Bihar)
5. 12th-13th August: various locations in Punjab
6. 14th August: Meerut (UP) Chhur village
The campaign demands that:
1. Agnipath scheme should be rolled back instantly and all the notifications issued under it must be withdrawn. The time tested method of regular, permanent recruitment must continue.
2. The pending vacancies (about 1.25 lakhs) and the current year vacancies (about 60,000) should be filled immediately following the pre-existing method of regular and permanent recruitment.
3. The recruitment process already initiated must be completed with age-relaxation of 2 years in lieu of non-recruitment for the last two years.
4. All cases against anti-agnipath protestors must be withdrawn and the arrested youth must be released forthwith.
5. There should be no privatisation in the defence sector; the government must accept its responsibility for national security & protection of the honour and morale of armed forces.
The press conference was addressed by Major Gen. Satbir Singh, SM (Rtd.), Group Captain VK Gandhi (Retd.) on behalf of United Front of Ex-Servicemen, Hanan Mollah, Rakesh Tikait and Yogendra Yadav on behalf of Samyukt Kisan Morcha and Aishee Ghosh and Manish on behalf of youth organisations.
