Agra/Bulandshahr (UP), Jun 16 (PTI) Protests over the Agnipath scheme erupted in at least six districts of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, with slogan-shouting young men blocking roads and pelting stones.

The protesters hurled stones at buses in Aligarh and Agra. There were protests also in Bulandshahr, Mathura, Firozabad and Ballia districts over the new recruitment scheme for defence services, officials said.

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Authorities stopped trains at Ballia and the neighbouring districts as a precautionary measure.

The aspirants took to the streets opposing the the Agnipath scheme which the Centre announced on Tuesday to recruit jawans into the army, the navy and the air force for a four-year-period followed by compulsory retirement for most without gratuity and pension benefits.

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It also drew sharp criticism from rival party leaders, including former Uttar Pradesh chief ministers Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati.

In Aligarh, the youths pelted stones at a passenger bus on the highway connecting the district to Ghaziabad. While some window panes of the bus were broken, no passenger was injured in the incident, officials said.

Vehicular traffic in Aligarh was affected for over two hours. Senior police officers persuaded the protesters to vacate the highway and assured them that their demands would be conveyed to the authorities concerned.

Superintendent of Police (city) Kuldeep Singh later told the media that the protesters had been dispersed and normal road traffic restored on the national highway.

In Agra, the aspirants not only pelted stones at a government bus in Bah, but they also blocked NH-2, the Agra-Jaipur highway and MG Road, sources said.

However, none was injured in the protests, they added. A similar protest was reported from a village under Mahua Khera police station limits.

"This scheme will affect the future of those candidates who want to serve the nation for 10 years and not just for four years," a protester requesting anonymity said.

Another student Satyaprakash demanded that the written exam for vacancies announced last year be conducted.

Agra Senior Superintendent of Police Sudhir Kumar Singh told reporters that SP (city) and other police personnel reached the spot and the situation is under control.

The aspirants have been asked to place their demands peacefully, he said.

In Mathura, protesters blocked the traffic on the Agra-Delhi route, paralysing traffic between Agra and Mathura and Mathura and Gwalior link road for over two hours.

The traffic was cleared following persuasion by police officials.

In Firozabad district, a group of youths staged a protest against the scheme in Shikohabad area.

Protests were held in Bulandhshar, Firozabad and Ballia, too, but the candidates dispersed after the district administration and police officers spoke to them and assured that their demands will be conveyed to the authorities concerned.

In Ballia and neighbouring districts, movement of some trains was affected due to the protests, an official said.

Some passenger trains were affected due to the protest, an official said. Train 12562 Swatantrata Sainani Express chugging from Delhi to Jai Nagar on the Varanasi-Chhapra rail section was halted at Ballia Railway Station at 10.47 am, North Eastern Railways' Public Relations Officer Ashok Kumar said.

Train 14006 Lichchavi Express was halted at Bhatni railway station at 10.25 am and train 15054 Lucknow Chhapra Express at Ghazipur railway station at 11.25 am.

This was done as a precautionary measure in the wake of protests in Ballia and some districts of Bihar neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, he said.

Attaching a video of the protesters demanding the withdrawal of the scheme, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav slammed the "misuse of force" on the "future armed forces of the country" alleging that the BJP was "betraying the country and patriotic youth by contractualising the armed forces".

"The proclamation of Bharat Mata must not be a false pretence but a symbol of true patriotism," he tweeted.

Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati termed the scheme "unfair towards rural youth".

In a series of tweets, she said that the scheme will add to the woes of the people already beset with inflation and poverty.

(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)