Hundreds march towards Secretariat protesting Agnipath in Chennai

CHENNAI: Hundreds of youth from across the State gathered near the state secretariat on Saturday demanding the centre rollback the Agnipath scheme. As many as 500 persons were rounded up by the police and detained at the Rajarathinam stadium.

The youngsters, who had come from Vellore, Thiruvannamalai, Coimbatore and other districts said that several of them had already appeared for a physical test and certificate verification as part of an armed forces recruitment drive in 2019, after which the Common Entrance Exams (CEE) were postponed, owing to the pandemic.

The protesting youth demanded that the union government assure them that it would recruit those who have completed the requisite tests.

The protesters held placards asking the army to conduct the pending CEE.

“Some of us are worried. We did not come here to protest. We want an answer to what would happen to our plight and we wanted to meet the officials inside army recruitment office, ” said a 22-year-old youth from Ranipet.

Additional commissioner of police, T S Anbu tried pacifying the protesting youth. After their detention at Egmore Rajarathinam stadium, they were counselled to not indulge in any protest without police permission. They were let off with a warning.

Police said that they would keep a close watch to ensure there are no untoward incidents, similar to those reported in other states. Angry youth have gone on a rampage in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana in the last two days and trains and other public transport were set on fire by the agitators, demanding rollback of the Agnipath scheme.