Agnipath Protests: No Police Clearance For Those Involved In Stir, Says Air Chief Marshal

Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari warned that those involved in Agnipath protests will "not get police clearance".

Written by: India.com News Desk Edited by: Snigdha Choudhury

Updated: June 18, 2022, 3:31 PM IST

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https://www.india.com/news/india/agnipath-protests-no-police-clearance-for-those-involved-in-stir-says-air-chief-marshal-agneepath-scheme-agniveers-5460965/ Copy

agnipath protest, Bharat Bnadh today

New Delhi: As protests against Agnipath scheme spread across states, Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari on Saturday said those involved in the stir “won’t get clearance from police”. Chaudhari said the Armed forces had not anticipated the large-scale violent protests being reported in several states including Bihar, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and others.

“We did not expect this kind of backlash. We condemn this kind of violence. This is not the solution. The last step is police verification: if anyone is involved, they won’t get a clearance from police,” Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari was quoted as saying in a report by India Today.

The protests against Agnipath spread, seemingly uncontrolled, with crowds squatting on tracks and highways, pelting trains and buses with stones, toppling vending kiosks at train stations and burning used tyres on tracks across states. Policemen in anti-riot gear were seen chasing away the protesters, hundreds of whom were rounded up.

Amid ongoing protests against new Army recruitment scheme ‘Agnipath’, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday announced that government will reserve 10 per cent jobs in the Defence Ministry for Agniveers. “Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh has approved a proposal to reserve 10 per cent of the job vacancies in Ministry of Defence for ‘Agniveers’ meeting requisite eligibility criteria”, said Defence Ministry Office in a tweet.

The 10 per cent reservation will be implemented in the Indian Coast Guard and defence civilian posts, and all the 16 Defence Public Sector Undertakings, Defence Ministry Office added further. However, this reservation would be in addition to existing reservation for ex-servicemen.

The announcement comes after four days of widespread protests and agitation over the scheme by aspirants in several parts of India. The defence ministry office has also clarified that the necessary steps will be taken to implement these provisions.