AZAMGARH: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath pinned the blame for the widespread protests against the Agnipath scheme on the opposition, accusing it of playing with the lives of youths by misleading them on the issue.
Addressing a public meeting in Azamgarh on Sunday, Yogi said, "When entire world is welcoming the Agnipath scheme, the opposition is misleading the youths and playing with their lives. It has been made clear that 25% of Agniveers will be inducted in the Army, Air Force and Navy on completion of their four-year tenure and the rest would get weightage in jobs in the central paramilitary forces, Assam Rifles and other forces."
He appealed to the youth not to get misled by the propaganda of Opposition parties against the Agnipath scheme as it was in their interest. “Many states like UP, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand have already announced that Agniveers would be preferred in police and other jobs. Besides, the Agnipath scheme will instill several good qualities and traits in youths that will help them in their life,” Yogi added.
During the training under Agnipath scheme, youths would learn discipline, and other qualities besides learning to tackle adverse situations patiently that would help the society and make their families proud, but the Opposition is misleading the youths and playing with their lives, he said.
Targeting Samajwadi Party, Yogi said that whenever recruitments started before 2017, the members of one family used to go in the field to start extorting money from aspirants.
"Youths were cheated during recruitment in SP and Bahujan Samaj Party regimes. In the five years of our previous term, five lakh government jobs were given without a blemish of corruption while employment was generated for several lakh youths," he added.
