Vaiko urges Centre to roll back ‘Agnipath’ scheme

CHENNAI: MDMK chief Vaiko on Friday called upon the Centre to roll back the "Agnipath" scheme for recruitment into the armed forces.

Vaiko, in a statement, said that the Central government's primary objective in launching the Agnipath scheme is to reduce the expenses of the nation's defence forces with regards to retirement benefits and pensions, but noted that experts hold that the short-term recruitment process was unjustifiable.

The BJP government's scheme resulted in protests by youths in Rajasthan, Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand, and other states, he said, adding that trains are being burnt in several places.

He said that with growing unemployment, the youths wanted to join the armed forces and added that the contractual postings would demean the defence forces. Vaiko also said that there seems to be an ulterior motive of the government to "saffronise" the defence forces and "implement the RSS agenda".