New Delhi, June 24 (agency)
Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the ‘Agneepath’ scheme, asking whether the ‘New India’ will listen to only the Prime Minister’s ‘friends’, not the heroes of the country? He also referred to a news report which purportedly said that according to an honorary captain of the army, the ‘Agneepath’ plan would ruin the army. Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “On one hand there is Paramvir of the country and on the other the pride and dictatorship of the Prime Minister. Will only ‘friends’ be heard in ‘New India’, not the heroes of the country?
Significantly, the Agneepath scheme was announced on June 14, in which there is a provision to recruit youth in the age group of 17 and a half years to 21 years in the army for only four years. After four years, the service of only 25 percent of these youth will be regularised. The government has increased the upper age limit for recruitment to 23 years in 2022 amid protests in several states against the scheme.
