'Election slogan': Congress on Rajnath Singh's 'ready to rectify Agnipath scheme' remarks
New Delhi, Mar 28: The Congress on Thursday termed as "election slogan" Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's remarks that the government was ready to rectify if there were any drawbacks in the Agnipath scheme, and asserted that the programme will "most definitely" be changed when the INDIA bloc "comes to power" in early June.
During a fireside chat on the concluding day of the Times Now Summit here, the defence minister defended the military recruitment scheme, saying recruiting youths would result in an increased risk-taking spirit and more tech-savvy armed forces.
"...If we see any drawbacks, then we are ready to rectify them," Singh said while talking of the Agnipath scheme.
Reacting to the Singh's remarks, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in a post in Hindi on X, "The Defense Minister of the country has (with condition) said that he is ready to make improvements and changes in the Agniveer scheme. This shows that the Agniveer scheme imposed on millions of patriotic youth by the Modi government is no longer working."
First the Modi government played with the future of lakhs of the youth, now because of the elections it has talked about accepting the flaws in the Agnipath scheme, Kharge said.
He said the government should first apologise to the country's patriotic youth.
The Congress has promised that its government will stop the Agnipath scheme, he asserted.
"Agnipath Yojana has weakened our national security. Now no youth wants to join the army only for four years," he said.
The Congress has highlighted the plight of around 1.5 lakh young men and women by launching the "Jai Jawan" campaign, Kharge said.
These youth were selected in a regular recruitment drive between 2019 and 2022 after passing the rigorous selection process but the Modi government suddenly imposed Agnipath scheme on the military forces, he said.
"The future Agniveers would be extremely dissatisfied and directionless due to loss of reputation and financial security due to this recruitment scheme," Kharge said.
"Recently, former Army Chief (retired) General MM Naravane had stated that under 'Agniveer Yojana', 75% people were to be taken and 25% people were to be released. But the Modi government did the opposite, and forcibly implemented this plan on all three military forces," he claimed.
"The awakened youth of the country will completely reject the election slogans of BJP! BJP is responsible for making their future bleak," Kharge alleged.
Tagging a media report on Singh's remarks, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "It will most definitely be changed when INDIA comes to power in early June 2024."
In June 2022, the Centre rolled out the Agnipath scheme for short-term induction of personnel into the armed forces with an aim to bring down the age profile of the three services.
The scheme provides for recruiting youngsters in the age bracket of 17 years and a half to 21 years for a four-year period with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years.
देश के रक्षा मंत्री ने (बशर्त) कहा है कि वो अग्निवीर योजना में सुधार व बदलाव करने के लिए तैयार है।
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) March 28, 2024
इससे पता चलता है कि मोदी सरकार द्वारा लाखों देशभक्त युवाओं पर थोपी अग्निवीर योजना अब काम नहीं कर रही है।
पहले तो मोदी सरकार ने हमारे लाखों युवाओं के भविष्य से खिलवाड़ क़िया, अब… pic.twitter.com/S9hB5q4Fvn
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Sudharsan, Shahrukh push GT to 200 for three against RCB
Ahmedabad, Apr 28: Shahrukh Khan made full use of his promotion in the batting order for his maiden IPL fifty while Sai Sudharsan stayed till the end to guide Gujarat Titans to 200 for three against Royal Challengers Bengaluru here on Sunday.
Batting at number four, Shahrukh (58 off 30) teamed up with Sudharsan (84 not out off 49) to give Gujarat Titans a much needed push after a tepid start. The duo shared an 86-run stand off 45 balls.
RCB put the home team into bat in the scorching Ahmedabad heat with Glenn Maxwell returning to their playing eleven from a "mental and physical health" break.
Wriddhiman Saha (5 off 4) was dismissed early as the first over bowled by left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh. The former India wicketkeeper tried to make room for an aerial hit over extra cover but ended up mistiming to Karn Sharma at third man.
Skipper Shubman Gill (16) was undone by the on-field brilliance from Cameron Green who ran towards his left to take a stunning catch at long-on off Maxwell.
With Sudharan at the other end, Titans decided to do something different and sent Shahrukh ahead of the likes of Azmatullah Omarzai and David Miller.
The move worked as Shahrukh milked the spinners mainly in the cow corner region, hammering five sixes and three fours. He completed the half-century with a maximum over long-on off Green before Mohammed Siraj cleaned him up with a sharp yorker.
Miller (26 not out off 19) joined Sudharsan in the middle and two shared an unbeaten 69 run stand off 36 balls to push the team to a par score.
Sudharan's second straight fifty plus score comprised eight fours and four sixes.
