India calls off hundreds of trains as more protests loom over recruitment

Indian Youth Congress supporters, are detained by the police during a protest against the Agneepath recruitment scheme on a street in Mumbai, India, June 18, 2022. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

Authorities in India cancelled more than 500 trains services on Monday because of calls for protests by young men angry with a military recruitment plan that they say will rob them of the opportunity of a career in the armed forces.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government last week unveiled the plan called Agnipath, or "path of fire", aimed at bringing more people into the military on short, four-year contracts to lower the average age of India's 1.38 million-strong armed forces.