Cong demands abolition of Agnipath, seeks regular recruitment in army

The Congress on Monday demanded the abolition of the Agnipath scheme and urged the government to start permanent recruitment in the armed forces as before.

Addressing a press conference here, party leader Deepender Hooda said for the past few days, there have been reports that a lot of flaws related to the Agnipath scheme are being mentioned in the Army's internal survey and various suggestions have come out.

He said different newspapers have published how shortcomings can be rectified in the recruitment scheme. Some things that have come out include extending the duration of Agnipath by four years and instead of retaining 25 per cent in Agnipath, 60-70 per cent Agniveers should be retained besides increasing the training period of Agniveers, added Hooda.

"We have always been saying that the Agnipath scheme is not in the interest of the youth as well as the country. Therefore, our demand is that this scheme should be abolished and permanent recruitment should be started in the army,