Anti-Agnipath protests: Centre announces supportive measures for Agniveers, leaders call on youth to end stir

Amid widespread antiAgnipath protests across the country the government has appealed to the protestors not to protest and understand the new recruitment programme of the militaryDefence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday approved a proposal to reserve 10 per cent of the job vacancies in the Ministry of Defence for Agniveers meeting requisite eligibility criteria to provide supportive measures to the Agniveers after their 4year service ends in the Armed ForcesSoon after the launch of the scheme the government also announced that it has decided to increase the upper age limit for the recruitment of Agniveers from 21 years to 23 years for the recruitment cycle of 2022 Earlier today the Home Ministry decided to reserve 10 per cent vacancies for recruitment in Central Armed Police Forces CAPFs and Assam Rifles for Agniveers Home Ministry has further announced that it will give three years of age relaxation to Agniveers beyond the prescribed upper age limit to recruitments in CAPFs and Assam Rifles For the first batch of Agniveers the age relaxation will be of 5 yearsAlso read Agnipath protests MHA sanctions security cover for 10 Bihar BJP leadersMoreover there are several state governments like Assam Uttar Pradesh Madhya Pradesh Haryana Arunachal Pradesh Uttarakhand and Karnataka that have come out and announced various supportive measures for the Agniveers who would return to the civil life after their 4year service in the Defence Forces Several state governments have announced that Agniveers after serving the armed forces for 4 years will be given preference in filling of vacancies in state police forcesHowever with the violence spreading in some parts of the country which included setting trains on fire and stonepelting arrests were made In Uttar Pradesh at least 250 people have been arrested and six FIRs lodged until Friday Owing to the violence the train services of the East Coast Railway zone were also affected In states like Bihar where trains were set on fire in some places the state police is probing the role of the coaching institutes behind the violenceAccording to the District Magistrate of Patna provocative WhatsApp messages were found on the phones of the arrested people revealing the role of 7 to 8 coaching institutes Notably violence also broke out at Secunderabad Railway station in Telangana on Thursday One person had lost his life in the police areal firing in its effort to disperse the crowd of protestorsThe stonepelting incident was also reported at the spot in which the police personnel also sustained injuries Acting against the violence the Andhra Pradesh Police on Saturday detained a man named Subba Rao who ran Army training centres in Palnadu district on the suspicion that he is the conspirator in Thursdays arson at Secunderabad Railway station in TelanganaIn the backdrop of the violence Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday appealed to the youth who are protesting against the Agnipath Scheme not to indulge in violence and said that the government is seriously listening to their concerns Speaking to ANI Thakur said that the Ministry of Youth Affairs amp Sports is mulling over bringing out something for the Agniveers when they retire from service in the Armed ForcesBharatiya Janata Party national president JP Nadda also appealed to the youth to understand the scheme thoroughly while also suggesting that there are some forces which do not want change to happen in the country I want to appeal to my young friends that this Agnipath is a revolutionary scheme I know that efforts are being made to mislead the youth I know that there are some forces in the country who do not want change to happen Thats why I would request the youth have faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi he has served the country I appeal to them to understand this scheme thoroughly Nadda saidWith inputs from ANI