Student groups in Delhi stage protest against Agnipath scheme, several detained

New Delhi: Activists of several student groups, including the left-affiliated AISA, staged a protest here on Friday against the Agnipath defence recruitment scheme, and termed it “disastrous”. The All India Students’ Association said the scheme is nothing but a design to destroy permanent jobs in the armed forces. The protesters raised slogans – “Agnipath wapas lo, tanashahi nahi chalegi (take back Agnipath, dictatorship won’t work) and also held placards which read ‘Immediately fill all vacant posts in defence on a permanent basis’ and ‘Rollback Aginpath scheme. Both AISA and Students’ Federation of India (SFI) alleged that several of their members were “brutally detained” . A senior police officer said 17-18 people had gathered at the ITO to hold a protest. They were detained and immediately removed from the area. Entry and exit gates of some Delhi Metro stations were closed on Friday as members of the Left-affiliated All India Students’ Association protested against the Agnipath scheme and demanded its rollback. Protests have erupted in several states since Wednesday against the Agnipath scheme to recruit jawans into the army, the navy and the air force for a four-year-period followed by compulsory retirement for most without gratuity and pension benefits. In a statement following the protest, the AISA said the “Agnipath scheme is nothing but a design to destroy permanent jobs in the army and introduce massive casualisation of army jawans.” “The Modi government has killed all opportunities of dignified employment, after enforcing casualisation and contractualisation in every sector,” the AISA said. The Delhi unit of SFI said it joined an all-India call against the Agnipath Scheme. “Agnipath which aims to weaken the armed forces is vehemently anti-people and is anti-national. In an already stagnant economy where unemployment rates are at an all-time high, this initiative by the central government will create dire situations for the youth of this country,” said SFI in a statement. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.