India's youth not meant to be door keepers of BJP offices, says TMC

KOLKATA: Reacting to the statement made by BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya that he would give priority to those who had served as Agniveers if he had to appoint security personnel for his party office, Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Sunday said that the youths of the country were not meant to be the gate keepers of the saffron party offices.

"The youth of India is not meant to be door keepers of @BJP4India offices. The young power wants to serve this nation unlike the Modi government. The Prime Minister should clarify whether these are also comments by 'fringe' elements," tweeted TMC.

Vijayvargiya's remark soon kicked up a row, with some prominent political leaders, including his party colleague MP Varun Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, besides several netizens slamming him for it. Under fire for the statement, Vijayvargiya later said what he meant was that the excellence of Agniveers will be utilised in whichever field they choose after completing service in the defence forces.

It may be recalled that Trinamool Congress state secretary Kunal Ghosh had alleged that the scheme would help the RSS cadres to get recruited in the Army. He had alleged that the BJP-led Centre was playing with the national security and questioned about the training of the Agniveers.

Recently, the Centre had announced the Agnipath scheme for recruitment into the three defence services for a short term period. Under this scheme, the youths to be recruited would be called 'Agniveer'.

However, soon after the scheme was announced violent protests erupted across the country against the scheme. The scheme envisages recruitment of soldiers for a four-year period and retirement of most without pension. Protesters have been demanding that the Central government to immediately withdraw the scheme and continue the usual recruitment process which ensures that a soldier gets a minimum service period of 15 years.

Taking a step to quell the growing anger among Armed Forces aspirants against the new Agnipath recruitment policy, Union Home minister Amit Shah on Saturday had announced that there would be a 10 per cent quota in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and Assam Rifles across the country for the Agniveers.

Meanwhile, amid the rising demands for the scrapping of the scheme, a senior Army officer on Sunday clarified that the programme would not be rolled back.