Road and rail traffic was partially affected in some regions on Monday during a ‘Bharat bandh’ called against the Agnipath recruitment scheme, while protests appeared to taper off in many states, with authorities stepping up security and imposing curbs after days of unrest.
Railways cancelled 529 trains as operations remained disrupted due to the protests. These included 181 mail/express trains and 348 passengers trains, the Railways said in a statement.
Authorities said that the bandh call was given on social media and did not name the organisations behind it.
Massive traffic jams were witnessed on Delhi roads as restrictions were in place due to the bandh and the ‘Satyagraha’ protest by Congress over the Centre’s Agnipath scheme and the questioning of Rahul Gandhi by the Enforcement Directorate. Indian Youth Congress workers stopped a train at the Shivaji Bridge railway station near Connaught Place. Sixteen protesters were detained and the track was cleared by security personnel after about half an hour, sources said.
In view of the bandh call, the Delhi Police had tightened security across the national capital and its bordering areas and warned of strict action against those trying to disrupt the law and order situation.
Other states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Assam and Rajasthan had also heightened security and imposed prohibitory orders in some districts to thwart possible protests and violence during the strike.
There was a heavy deployment of police at railway stations, including those in Ambala, Rewari and Sonipat in Haryana and Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar in Punjab to prevent any untoward incident, they said.
Protests were reported in some parts of Haryana, Punjab and Jammu.
More than 5000 security personnel were deployed in Jharkhand and schools remained shut across the state in view of the bandh call.
Shops and business establishments remained open in capital Ranchi, the steel city of Jamshedpur, Palamu and elsewhere. There was tight security at Ranchi railway station and security forces staged a flag march in Koderma
In Bihar, which had seen large-scale violence, internet services remain suspended in 17 out of 38 districts and heavy deployment of police and paramilitary forces continued in places.
Agnipath: Army announces first round of recruitment, registration from July
The Army on Monday issued a notification for induction of soldiers under the Agnipath military recruitment scheme. The Army said the online registration on the force’s recruitment website is mandatory for all the job aspirants under the new model. It said the online registration will commence from July.
‘Agniveers’ would form a distinct rank in the Indian Army, which would be different from any other existing ranks, the Army said.
“With the introduction of this scheme, the enrolment of soldiers in the regular cadre of the Indian Army, except technical cadres of medical branch, will be available only to those personnel who have completed their engagement period as Agniveer,” it said.
The Army said the release of an Agniveer at own request prior to completion of terms of engagement is not permitted.
“However, in most exceptional cases, personnel enrolled under this scheme may be released, if sanctioned by the competent authority,” it said.
The Agnipath scheme, announced on June 14, provides for the recruitment of youths between the age bracket of 17-and-half years to 21 for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years.
Later, the government extended the upper age limit to 23 years for recruitment in 2022. Protests have erupted in several states against the Centre’s scheme.
The Army said the new recruits will be subjected to the provisions of the Army Act, 1950, and will be liable to go wherever ordered by land, sea or air.
It said a “distinctive insignia” will be worn by the Agniveers on their uniform during their service period and that detailed instructions on it will be issued separately.
The Army said based on organisational requirements and policies, ‘Agniveers’, on completion of their engagement period in each batch, will be offered an opportunity to apply for enrolment in the regular cadre.
“These applications will be considered in a centralised manner by the Army based on objective criteria, including performance during their engagement period and not more than 25 per cent of each specific batch of Agniveers will be enrolled in regular cadre post completion of their four-year engagement period,” according to the document released by the Army.
“Agniveers so enrolled as regular cadre would be required to serve for a further engagement period of 15 years and will be governed by terms and conditions of service (of Junior Commissioned Officer/ Other Ranks) currently in vogue,” it said.
The Army said the Agniveers will not have any right to be selected after completion of their four-year tenure.
As part of the enrolment process, each ‘Agniveer’ will be required to formally accept all terms and conditions of the ‘Agnipath’ scheme. For personnel below the age of 18 years, the enrolment form will be required to be signed by the parents or guardians, according to the document.
The ‘Agniveers’ will be eligible for 30 days leave in a year as against 90 days for those in regular service. Medical leave will be granted based on medical advice.
The Army said 30 per cent of the monthly salary of the Agniveers will be compulsorily deposited in a corpus and an equal amount will be contributed by the government.