Ambala, Jul 8 (PTI) Congress Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Singh Hooda on Friday demanded that the Centre immediately withdraw the Agnipath recruitment scheme in the larger interest of the nation.

He claimed that the scheme is neither in the interest of the Army nor the country or the youth.

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He was in Ambala to participate in a "Mashaal March" organised by the Haryana Youth Congress as part of "Fauj Bachao, Desh Bachao" campaign to protest the Agnipath scheme.

The Centre last month unveiled the scheme for the recruitment of the youth aged between 17 and a half and 21 in the Army, Navy and the Air Force, largely on a four-year short-term contractual basis.

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The youth recruited under the scheme will be known as ‘Agniveers'. After the completion of the four-year tenure, 25 per cent of the recruits from each batch will be offered regular service.

"Till the government does not withdraw this scheme, we are firmly standing with the interests of the country's Army and soldiers of the country and every step that weakens the country's Army and shatters the dreams of the youth will be strongly opposed from the streets to Parliament," Hooda said.

Hooda said there are 62 lakh vacancies in various departments of the central and state government, of which 26 lakh posts are vacant in the central government alone.

"In response to my question in Parliament, the government said more than two lakh posts are lying vacant in the Army, recruitment is closed for three years," he said.

He also pointed out how the Agnipath scheme would impact the youth.

"Till now, every year there were 60,000-80,000 confirmed recruitments in the Army, now there will be 40,000-50,000 recruitments every year in Agnipath scheme, of which 75 per cent will retire every four years," he said.

"In the next 15 years, the strength of the Army will reduce from the present 14 lakh to half," he claimed.

Hooda said a large number of people from Haryana have traditionally been recruited in the Army.

"We make only 2 per cent of the country's population but make 10 per cent of the Army. Soldiers, ex-servicemen, paramilitary personnel and their families live in villages in Haryana. The Agnipath scheme is a big setback for the youth," he said.

(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)