Many retired army officers and politicians of parties other than the BJP have strong reservations against the government’s Agnipath scheme of recruiting youth between the age group of 17.5 and 21 years for a four-year stint in the armed forces with a provision of voluntary retention after this period, based on merit.
On Wednesday, a large number of aspirants to the armed forces blocked roads and railway tracks in different parts of Bihar to lodge a protest against the new scheme.
Earlier, responding to a media query, Union Minister and former Army chief General V.K. Singh said he was not involved in formulating the scheme and that he did not know much about it. He said things would be clear after it was implemented on the ground.
