To be a ‘Veer’ but not ‘Agniveer’: Youths in Kangra deprived of Army jobs voice concerns
Their concern found echo among the youths in the state where 42.3 per cent of boys said that they wanted to join the Army, as per the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2023-Beyond Basics.
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Due to suspension of the Indian Army’s enrollment drive for two years, around 37,000 youngsters from the region were deprived of their dream of donning the olive green, as per a report. (Express Photo)When Yatinder, 17, applied for the Agnipath scheme last year, he was made fun of by his peers, who told him that he will retire before his father. Yatinder, oldest of five siblings, the youth from Balla area in Kangra says that he is at a loss as he has never thought of joining any other profession.
His neighbour Suresh Sharma who appeared for the Agnipath exam in March this year said he did so half-heartedly. “I have been training and dreaming to join the forces, at this point, what else could I apply for?” he asks.
Their concern found echo among the youths in the state where 42.3 per cent of boys said that they wanted to join the Army, as per the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2023-Beyond Basics.
In fact, according to the central government data tabled in Parliament in February this year, one-fourth of the total soldiers selected from all over the country belong to this region – Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. In the last round of recruitment held in 2019-2020 for the selection of jawans, of the total 78,629 candidates who made the cut, 18,798 were from the region.
However, due to the suspension of the Indian Army’s enrollment drive for two years, around 37,000 youngsters from the region were deprived of their dream of donning the olive green, states the report.
Rajesh Singh, a taxi driver and a resident of Dhaloom village near Yol Cantonment, said, “Agniveer is a big issue here. What will our children do when they return after four years? The BJP says that there is no resentment. But what will these youths do when they don’t have any job avenues after four years? Also, these children were preparing hard. They had no option but to sign up to become Agniveer”.
The anti-Agnipath sentiments could be felt in many parts of the state with several Congress leaders attacking the BJP over it and the latter trying hard to defend itself.
Criticising the Centre’s Agnipath scheme, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said, “There is now less interest among the youth in serving the country (in the Army) because of the BJP’s scheme which is providing jobs only for four years.”
Posing several questions to the BJP-led central government, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had on Friday asked that since the people of Himachal Pradesh have repeatedly voiced their opposition to the Agnipath scheme will Prime Minister Narendra Modi commit to scrapping the “ill-conceived” military recruitment programme?
While Mandi is the biggest parliamentary constituency in terms of area, Kangra is the most populous among Himachal Pradesh’s four Lok Sabha constituencies. The cumulative number of people from Kangra serving in the Army or ex-servicemen is around 1 lakh.
Making this his poll plank, Congress’ Kangra candidate Anand Sharma, who is fighting a Lok Sabha election for the first time, has termed the Agnipath scheme as an “insult” to the soldiers. Expecting to influence a considerable number of voters in the constituency, he also promised to abolish it if the Congress was voted to power, an assurance also given by other senior Congress leaders.
The BJP on its part has tried to turn the tide in their favour by not only elaborating on the benefits of the scheme but also by accusing the Congress of spreading lies.
BJP’s Hamirpur candidate and Union Minister Anurag Thakur said that 25 per cent of the youth will remain permanently in the Army while reservation would be given for the remaining in central para military forces and state police, and there would be 100 per cent job guarantee for those becoming Agniveer.
The issue has gained so much prominence that when Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Kangra on Sunday, the BJP got a video statement issued from him to allay the fears of the youths and soldiers regarding the scheme. He also alleged that the Congress was spreading lies regarding the scheme.
Prof Ramesh K Chauhan, from the Department of Political Science at Himachal Pradesh University, says that in Kangra, every third family has someone in the Army.
“For the middle class population, the Army is a lucrative job option. The children just wait to complete class 12 and then take some physical training and then apply for the armed forces. A lot of youths from the rural belts also apply for the forces and join the lower ranks. For most, this is not just a job but also a matter of pride. With the Agnipath scheme, they will remain with the Army only for four years and then will be allotted other jobs. But that’s not what the youth wants here. If they wanted to be guards somewhere, they could have just worked with some private agencies,” says Chauhan, adding that even if the BJP pushes for the scheme, this is not going to work for long.
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