Protesters in the eastern Indian state of Bihar damaged public property and looted offices at a railway station on Saturday, expressing outrage over a new military recruitment plan and demanding the government take the opposite direction.
The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has introduced a policy called Agnipath or “path of fire” designed to add more people to the army with four-year contracts to reduce the average age of India’s armed forces. 1.38 million strong.
Another military general, the lieutenant general. Anil Puri told NDTV that the aim of the plan was to make the army more modern and effective.
Analysts said the new policy would also help reduce rising pension costs, but opponents believe it would limit permanent job opportunities for defense forces, with implications for salaries, pensions and other benefits.
Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. (Arun Sankar / AFP / Getty Images)
Thousands of youths attacked buses, burned tires and clashed with officials at a railway station in Bihar, one of the poorest states in India.
Authorities canceled 369 trains across the country, many of them in riot gear.
Sanjay Singh, a senior police officer who oversees law and order in the state, said at least 12 protesters were arrested and at least four policemen were injured in clashes.
“About 2,000 to 2,500 people entered the Masaurhi railway station and attacked the forces,” he told Reuters.
In Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, police arrested at least 250 people under what are called pre-trial detentions. Some protesters accused police of using excessive force. One person has been killed in protests this week.
A bit of a professional transition
In an attempt to contain the outrage, the federal government on Saturday announced concessions for those who will serve under the new rules.
The Federal Ministry of the Interior has announced that it will reserve 10% of the vacancies for paramilitary forces and Assam Rifles, an Indian army unit, for those who have left the army after the four-year period.
Bombay Pradesh Youth Congress activists shouted slogans during a protest against the government’s new “Agnipath” recruitment scheme for the army, navy and air force on Saturday in Bombay. (Subject Jaiswal / AFP / Getty Images)
The Ministry of Defense stated that it would reserve 10% of its vacancies for those who have completed their term.
“Maybe because it’s a new scheme, people have misunderstood it, but we’ve been discussing it with everyone, including the former military,” Defense Minister Rajnath Singh told a news conference on Saturday.
The policy calls for the retention of 25% of soldiers recruited after four years of service, and the rest have priority for other jobs, such as the state police.
‘Human resource transformation’
The navy chief said on Friday that the protests were unexpected and probably the result of misinformation about the new system.
A train bus attendant on Friday inspected a train car set on fire by protesters protesting against the government’s new military recruitment scheme at a Secunderabad railway station in Telangana, India. (Noah Seelam / AFP / Getty Images)
“I did not anticipate any such protests,” Admiral R. Hari Kumar told ANI. “It is the largest human resource management transformation that has ever taken place in the Indian Army.”
The scheme is not open to women in combat roles and there are no current plans to change it.