Protests against military reform “Agnipath” are growing in India. On the second day of protests, railroad cars were set on fire by demonstrators at two stations at least in the state of Bihar. Railway services were disrupted and many services were cancelled. Hundreds of people took to the streets in the protests that gradually spread in the city of Secunderabad in the state of Telengana.
The Agnipath plan includes short-term contract recruitment into the army. Within the framework of the plan, the soldiers will serve in the army for a total of 4 years, 6 months of which is training. While it is planned to recruit approximately 46,000 people with the new system this year, only 25 percent of the soldiers will continue to work. The uncertainty of what those who entered the army will do after 4 years causes concern. The plan also draws criticism on the grounds that it could weaken the professionalism of the military and lead to further unemployment in the unemployment-prone country. The opposition wing argues that the Indian army will be transformed into a “trainee army” with the new system.
Within the framework of the program, male and female personnel between the ages of 17.5 and 21 will be recruited into the armed forces.