Army aspirants in Nawada, Bihar, say the Centre has with one stroke crushed all their desires
Army aspirants in Nawada, Bihar, say the Centre has with one stroke crushed all their desires
Under an enormous banyan tree on a village floor in Nawada district, Sahil Kumar, 20, is one among the many 30 Army aspirants mulling over the unsure future that lies forward of them ever for the reason that Union Government introduced the ‘Agnipath’ scheme for recruitment of troopers into the armed forces.
“Life is meaningless now,” he murmurs whereas decreasing his head and combating again tears. For the previous two-and-a-half years, he has been getting ready for a job within the Army, working 5 km on the bottom within the morning and 4 km on a close-by dry riverbed within the night, day-after-day. Being the one son of an agriculturist, Sahil says his father had huge desires for him and wished to see him as an Army man. He too was working very laborious, planning to marry off his two youthful sisters as an Army man. “But this government has crushed all my dreams with one stroke, I’ve lost sleep, lost interest in life,” he says. His pals, who seem equally disheartened, attempt to console him, pat his again and chant in refrain, “Either the government withdraws the Agnipath scheme, or we all will withdraw from life.”
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Over 100 Army job aspirants from over a dozen surrounding villages practise day-after-day on the village floor chasing their dream job.
Office set afire
Nawada is the primary district in Bihar the place protesters set the native BJP workplace on hearth and attacked the native BJP MLA Aruna Devi’s automobile on June 16. Thousands of scholars getting ready for the Army job and residing in lodges in Nawada city had come out on the streets in opposition to the Agnipath scheme. They vented their ire on the native BJP workplace situated on the outskirts of the city, ransacking the three-storey constructing and setting it ablaze. Even after three days, when The Hindu reached the get together workplace on June 19, damaged plastic chairs, tables, change boards, burnt information, posters of get together leaders and different furnishings have been mendacity strewn round.
In a nook of the ransacked assembly corridor on the primary ground of the workplace, a poster of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a victory signal says, “Azadi ke baad, pehli baar… kada parishram, bade parinaam (First time, after Independence…hard labour, big result).
“Luckily, there was no one in the office at that time, otherwise the protesters might have killed them. I reached here seeing columns of smoke billowing into the sky and informed the police and party leaders about the incident,” stated native BJP chief Vinay Kumar. Now, three safety personnel have been posted on the BJP workplace, which is with out electrical energy, water, sanitation and different amenities.
The ardour for an Army job is so intense among the many aspirants that one in all Sahil Kumar’s pals, Sanjit Kumar, has affixed “Army Lover” earlier than his title. Though Sanjit is 23 years previous, he desires “a two years relaxation in recruitment age as there was no vacancy in the Army in the last two years because of COVID-19”. “We who come from such rural and poor background eat, dream and sleep thinking about an Army job,” he says. “The sheer thrill of wearing the Army uniform makes us mad about the job. An Army job automatically earns you respect in society,” he says. His pals Rohit and Mohit Kumar, each 21 years previous and sons of marginal farmers, too nod and say, “Unless the government withdraws this short-term scheme of Agnipath, we’ll continue our protest in a peaceful manner”.
Asked why trains and places of work of a specific political get together have been being attacked and burnt down in the course of the protests, one aspirant stated, “It might be handiwork of some anti-social elements masquerading as students. How can we who aspire to die for the nation, harm national property? Like the kisan aandolan (farmer’s protest), we’ll continue our protest peacefully and force the government to relent.”
Vikramshila Express practice set on hearth by a mob in protest in opposition to the Centre’s ‘Agnipath’ scheme, in Lakhisarai, on June 17, 2022.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Qualification standards
“First we’ve to pass the physical test, then the medical test and finally the written exam,” says Sahil Kumar, stating how troublesome it’s to get into the Army. In the bodily check, aspirants must cross the 1,600 meters race, carry out a long-jump of 12 ft and do pull-ups, he provides. “But the medical test is the toughest one,” he says and a lot of the aspirants below the banyan tree agree. “But all the hard work put in over the years now goes for a toss with this Agnipath scheme with a four-years job security. In the same way, the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister, MPs and MLAs term too must be fixed for just one term and that too without any pension or other retirement facilities,” says one other aspirant.
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In Bihar, protesting Army aspirants have set over a dozen trains, railway stations on hearth, attacked BJP leaders’ residence, automobiles and get together places of work in Nawada and Madhepura. They have blocked motion of automobiles on highways at some locations and clashed with the police. The police have needed to open hearth and baton cost them at some locations. Internet providers have been suspended in about 20 districts of the State. Over 700 protesters have been arrested and a whole lot of FIRs lodged in opposition to them at completely different locations. At Paliganj, the native police have launched a poster of 40 protesters who indulged in violence on Monday and appealed to the folks to establish them. And, it’s due to the police motion in opposition to them that the aspirants do not need to communicate to the media as it is going to reveal their identification. “The police reprisal is brutal… We come from poor families. Who will get us released from jail and fight the cases?” stated one of many aspirants in Nawada.
However, chatting with The Hindu, a younger IPS officer posted in Patna, who earlier served within the Air Force for seven years, urged that the Central authorities ought to prolong the four-year service tenure for Agnipath aspirants to not less than seven years and supply them their commencement and Master’s diploma with provision of precedence in different armed forces, both on the Centre or within the States. “Most of the protesting students we’ve rounded up support this suggestion,” he stated, talking on situation of anonymity. “But nobody has yet come forward to listen to us, neither sought our views,” rued one other aspirant whereas including that “the media too does not care for our views. It’s a do or die situation for us”.
(Names and site of aspirants have been modified as they concern police reprisal)
Source: www.thehindu.com
