Agnipath Scheme row | Varun Gandhi hits out again at Centre, says 'First strike then think is not good'

Two days after cautioning the Union government to make the stand clear on the newly launched Agnipath Scheme, Lok Sabha MP from Pilibhit Varun Gandhi on 18 June said all the points were not considered while devising the initiative.

Taking to Twitter, the BJP MP wrote, "That amendments were made to the Agnipath scheme within a few hours of its launch shows that in all likelihood, all the points were not considered while planning this model. When it comes to the nation's army, security and the future of the youth, ‘first strike then think’ is inappropriate for a sensitive government."

The Pilibhit MP was reacting to additional concessions announced by the Union Home Ministry and Defence Ministry after protests. The government had stated that 75 per cent of Agniveer will be relieved by the armed forces after the stipulated four years of service.

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While, the the home ministry said it will reserve 10 per cent vacancies in the paramilitary forces and Assam Rifles for ‘Agniveers,’ the defence ministry, too, will reserve 10 per cent seats for such recruits.

On 16 June, the government extended the upper age limit for eligibility from 21 to 23 under a ‘one-time waiver’ following the anti-Agnipath protests in several states including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and others.

Critics in the meantime, have argued that the Centre making amendments to Agnipath showed it did not think through while announcing it.

Earlier in the day, Indian Railways informed that it cancelled 369 trains on Saturday due to the agitation against the Centre's recently announced Agnipath scheme for recruitment of soldiers in the armed forces, including 210 mail/express and 159 local passenger trains. Apart from this, two mail/express trains were partially cancelled, thus the total number of trains affected during the day is 371.

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In violence-hit Bihar itself, the Railways had to cancel 60 trains and terminate two due to prevailing law and order problem and threat perception to railway property and passengers.