Thousands of protestors took to the streets in protest across India against a new military recruitment system announced by the Modi (BJP) government on Tuesday.
Angry crowds set the office of the country’s ruling party BJP (Bhartiya Janata Party on fire, attacked railway stations, and blocked roads, police said.
Police also said protests took place in northern Haryana state and western Rajasthan – both traditional recruiting areas for the Indian military – and in various districts of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state.
In eastern India's Bihar state, where protests have flared in around a dozen locations, thousands gathered in Nawada city to demonstrate against the new recruitment system, police official Gaurav Mangla said.
"They torched a BJP office, torched tyres in three prominent areas of the city, damaged a bus and many private vehicles," Mangla told Reuters.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government on Tuesday announced a new military recruitment system called “Agnipath”, meaning “path of fire” in Hindi, with a new military rank “agniveer” (fire-brave in Hindi), in which the army (between the ages of 17-and-a-half and 21) will be recruited on contractual basis for four years, including the training period and exit without any pension, health or education benefits with only a quarter retained for longer periods.
Previously, soldiers have been recruited by the army, navy and air force separately and typically enter service for up to 17 years for the lowest ranks. The shorter tenure has caused concern among potential recruits and security analysts.
More than half of the Indian government’s defence expenditure of $70.6bn goes towards pensions and salaries for Indian military personnel.
Experts say the new military system demolishes the structure itself.
Varun Gandhi, a BJP lawmaker from Uttar Pradesh, in a letter to India's defence minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said that 75% of those recruited under the scheme would become unemployed after four years of service.
Reacting to the decision, Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the main opposition party Congress said “When India faces threats on two fronts, the uncalled for Agnipath scheme reduces the operational effectiveness of our armed forces. The BJP govt must stop compromising the dignity, traditions, valour and discipline of our forces.”
Many believe, the “agniveer” plan is a job-generation scheme to satisfy a vast number of unemployed Indians but military veterans say it will cost military professionalism as it takes at least 8 years to become a professionally trained army man.
India’s unemployment tribulations are growing over the past four years. . The employment rate is so bad that more than half of the 900 million Indians of legal working age – roughly the population of the US and Russia combined – have even stopped looking for jobs altogether.
According to a 2020 report by McKinsey Global Institute, India needs to create at least 90 million new non-farm jobs by 2030 which would require an annual GDP growth of 8% to 8.5%.