Delhi Minister Gopal Rai announces Joint Movement against Centre’s Agnipath plan at Jantar Mantar on June 20

During the Friday protests, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said that a combined protest against the Central Government’s recently announced Agnipath Recruitment Scheme will be conducted at Jantar Mantar in the national capital on June 20.

“A unified movement against the Agnipath scheme will be organised at Jantar Mantar in Delhi at 11 a.m. on June 20,” he said in a tweet. He has also urged all of the ‘Syukt Rojgar Andolan Samiti’ organisations to visit Jantar Mantar.

Protests against the new Armed Forces recruitment process have erupted in several parts of the country. Protests got violent in several areas, with trains being set ablaze.

Meanwhile, protests against the newly announced military recruitment programme, Agnipath, in Telangana’s Secunderabad became violent on Friday, killing one person.

Protesters had already set fire to compartments of a train in Samastipur, Bihar, and those of another train at Lakhisarai station.

The government, for example, introduced the Agnipath Scheme on June 14 in an effort to alter the Armed Forces’ recruitment procedure. The Centre has decided to change the upper age limit for recruiting Agniveers in response to the Opposition’s criticism of the new military recruitment plan.

The Agniveer upper age restriction for recruitment under Agnipath Scheme has been extended to 23 years from 21 years, thanks to a one-time waiver granted by the Centre on June 16, 2022.

Agnipath is the name of the programme, and the youth that are chosen will be known as Agniveers. Agnipath is a programme that permits patriotic and determined young people to serve in the Armed Forces for four years.