Jaipur, Jun 20 (PTI) Defending the Agnipath scheme, Rajasthan BJP president Satish Poonia on Monday said the defence recruitment model is not against anyone but in favour of the country, its military and patriotic people.

The Agnipath scheme, announced on June 14, provides for the recruitment of youths in the age bracket of 17-and-half to 21 years in the armed forces for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years.

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Youths in several parts of the country have been protesting against the contentious scheme. Over the past few days, incidents of protesters vandalising railway stations, setting trains on fire and blocking roads and railway tracks have been reported from different cities and towns.

Poonia asked the youth to refrain from violence and understand the advantages of the scheme.

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"This scheme is not against anyone. This is in favour of India, its military and patriotic people. Agniveers who will come out after four years of service will have job opportunities in many ways," he said at the 'Meet The Press' event here.

Poonia said damaging public property and violence is not patriotism.

"It is a scheme to make the country stronger and youths should understand it," he added.

Reacting to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's allegations of BJP working on a Hindutva agenda, Poonia said people of the majority community too have human rights and if they are violated, then speaking about it is not Hindutva.

He also accused the chief minister of appeasing the minority community and claimed that Mewat region in Alwar has witnessed several cases of "land Jihad" and "love Jihad" under the Congress rule.

Poonia further said the Congress government has failed to fulfil the pre-poll promises.

"The unemployment rate in Rajasthan is 32 per cent, which is the highest in the country. Deteriorating law and order and crimes against women continue to remain a challenge," he claimed.

He further said "infighting" in the Congress has impacted governance in the state run by that party.

"Justice cannot be expected from a government when it is battling infighting. Three-and-a-half-years of Congress rule has left the people of the state disappointed," he said.

Poonia expressed hope that the BJP will win the 2023 assembly elections and form the next government in the state.

Lauding the Narendra Modi-led central government for the work it has done in the last eight years, Poonia said the country has "transformed" under the BJP rule.

He also said that the structure of the BJP has strengthened in Rajasthan under him.

"We have worked with an innovative approach and several social activities were undertaken by us. More innovations will be done in the time to come," he said.

Poonia informed that a state-level training camp of party workers will be held from July 10 to 12 in Sirohi.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)