Police arrest anti-Agnipath demonstrators near Mamata’s home

PTI, Jun 18, 2022, 6:33 PM IST

Police on Saturday afternoon clashed with agitating members of the All India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO) and All India Democratic Youth Organisation (AIDYO) when they tried to block roads protesting against the Centre’s ‘Agnipath’ scheme in the southern part of the city’s Hazra area, a hundred meters from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s residence. Protesting the scheme, the activists demanded that recruits into India’s armed forces be given permanent jobs rather than be taken in under the ”Agnipath” scheme which employs a soldier on a contract for four years. A huge police force led by senior officers cleared the area, arresting over 20 activists.

”We will not allow anyone to disturb the law and order here. We will deal with such kinds of attempts very strictly,” the police officer commanding the deployment said. All police stations in the city and the districts of West Bengal have been alerted and asked to keep a tight vigil on areas under their jurisdiction to avoid any untoward incident, he said.

The Centre on Tuesday unveiled the ‘Agnipath’ scheme for recruitment in the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, in a major overhaul of the decades-old selection process.