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Journalism of Courage
Nineteen-year-old Irfan, a resident of Chandeni village in the Badhra Assembly constituency in Charkhi Dadri district, got inspired by some of his relatives, who are either ex-servicemen or serving with the armed forces, to join the Army. However, in June 2022, when the BJP-led Centre launched the Agnipath short-term recruitment scheme for the armed forces, Irfan’s family asked him to look for alternative jobs.
“Now, I am waiting for job openings in other forces like Haryana Police and Territorial Army,” says Irfan, who is now engaged in its preparations. As part of his physical exercise for it, he is playing basket ball in a ground on the outskirts of the village. He has just finished running 1,600 mts in seven minutes.
Irfan says his family asked him to drop the idea of joining the Army as an Agniveer, asking “what I will do if the government terminated my service after four years”.
Many villagers echo Irfan’s resentment over the Agnipath programme.
In a bid to address such concerns of people, the incumbent BJP has promised a “guarantee of government job for every Haryanvi Agniveer” in its “sankalp patra (manifesto)” for the October 5 state Assembly polls.
In July this year, the Nayab Singh Saini-led BJP government decided to provide 10% “horizontal reservation” for Agniveers in the posts of constable, mining guard, forest guard, jail warders and SPOs (special police officers).
“BJP is making these promises ahead of Assembly polls after losing five Lok Sabha seats (out of 10). Why BJP government did not show concern for youths in past two years. What will happen if BJP does not meet these promises after polls?” Irfan asks.
A significant number of soldiers are recruited in the Indian armed forces from Haryana.
Agnipath was among the key issues in the state in the recent Lok Sabha polls, which saw the BJP and the Congress winning five seats each. The BJP had won all 10 seats in the 2019 polls. In the upcoming Assembly polls, the Congress, in its campaign, is again raking up Agnipath to target the BJP.
Another Chandeni villager, Sanjay Sangwan, 22, says he also wanted to join the Army but changed his mind after the Agnipath scheme was rolled out. He is now also looking for a job in the Territorial Army.
Irfan’s friend Anmol Bumrah, 19, has also similar concerns but he is still going ahead with his Agnipath plans. Like Irfan, Anmol is also a first-time voter.
Anmol has cleared the Agniveer entrance exam held in February this year and is now preparing for his physical fitness test to be held in November. He also runs 1,600 mts every morning. “I am from a poor family so I can’t wait for other jobs. If I get selected, we will see what happens after completing four years,” says Anmol, who is pursuing his graduation.
Chandeni has about 2,300 voters. Almost every family in the village has at least one member in the defence forces. Locals say that 29 Army personnel from the village have been martyred in different wars.
Village sarpanch Raj Singh Sangwan says that 23 recruits from the village served as Colonels and Majors in the Army. “When open recruitment was happening before Agnipath, at least 10-12 youths from this village were inducted in Army in every recruitment process. But after introduction of Agnipath, only two youths have got selected as Agniveers so far. Youths are losing interest in joining Army because of Agnipath’s provision for four-year service,” Raj Singh says. “Now youths are preparing for Haryana police jobs. Many youths have taken private jobs in Charkhi Dadri, Sonipat, Rohtak, Chandigarh and Delhi.”
A jamidar (land holder) in the village, Ravi Jangda, however, defends the BJP over Agnipath, saying “This scheme will see the Army getting packed with youths. The government is promising quota and priority in other jobs after retirement as Agniveers.”
Ravi is confronted by Satyaveer Sangwan, 61, who retired from the Army as Hawaldar after serving for 20 years. He says his son joined the Army 15 years ago, but he wants his grandchildren to aim for other government jobs so that they could also receive pension after retirement like him.
Satyaveer says that earlier if a person landed a job in the Army, his next two generations used to become financially secure. “But Agniveers will have no such security for themselves. Now we are not even receiving marriage proposals for our boys. That is also becoming a problem,” he says.
About 50 km away from Chandeni, in Bisahan village in the Beri Assembly seat in Jhajjar district, the villagers take pride that every household has sent recruits to the Army. Bisahan is also the native village of Dalbir Singh Suhag, the former Army chief.
A 24-year-old Bisahan resident Gaurav Suhag is against the Agnipath programme, but to continue his family’s tradition of joining the Army he applied for it one year ago unsuccessfully. “Now I have crossed upper age limit of 21 years and have lost the enthusiasm for joining Army,” he says, adding that he is now preparing for other exams.
Bisahan sarpanch Inderjeet Suhag, who is contesting the Beri seat as an Independent, says, “Village youths are applying for Agniveer because they don’t have many employment options. Some of the villagers got selected for Agniveer. What will happen to their jobs after four years… BJP is promising quota at the time of elections. But what will happen if BJP does not win?”
The BJP’s Charkhi Dadri district vice-president Vitin Sangwan said, “BJP will ensure jobs for Agniveers and has promised this in its manifesto. Opposition parties have misled and confused youths about this programme. We are clearing this confusion during our campaign. Youths will understand us and support BJP.”
In the 2019 Assembly polls, the Badhra constituency was won by the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP)’s Naina Singh, with the Congress and the BJP candidates finishing at second and third positions respectively. This time, the Congress’s Somvir Singh will take on the BJP’s Umed Singh in the seat.
In Beri, the Congress has again fielded its sitting MLA Raghuvir Singh Kadian against the BJP’s Sanjay Kumar. Raghuvir had defeated the BJP’s Vikram Kadian in 2019.
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