News India Agnipath scheme protest Highlights | 5 trains targeted by students in Bihar; BJP office set on fire in Nawada

Agnipath scheme protest Highlights | 5 trains targeted by students in Bihar; BJP office set on fire in Nawada

Army aspirants disrupted rail and road traffic in several parts of Bihar, including in Buxar district, where more than 100 young men stormed the railway station and squatted on the tracks, blocking the onward journey of Patna-bound Janshatabdi Express for nearly 30 minutes.

Smoke billows out after youngsters set a train on fire in protest against the Agnipath scheme at Chapra railway station in Saran district on Thursday, June 16 Image Source : PTISmoke billows out after youngsters set a train on fire in protest against the Agnipath scheme at Chapra railway station in Saran district on Thursday, June 16

Agnipath scheme protest Highlights: The protests against the Centre's new soldier recruitment scheme spread to different parts of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday with defence service candidates pelting stones at a government bus in Agra, and staging demonstrations in Bulandshahr and Ballia. In Ballia and neighbouring districts, movement of some trains was affected due to the protests. The stone pelting incident was reported in rural Agra's Bah, while protests erupted in various pockets of Agra district. They also blocked NH-2, the Agra-Jaipur highway and MG Road. As violent protests against the new recruitment scheme Agnipath raged across several states, the government on Thursday issued a clarification, asserting that not only the new model will bring in new capabilities to the armed forces but will also open up avenues for youth in the private sector as well as help them in becoming entrepreneurs with the aid of the financial package. The clarification came in the wake of protests in several states, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Trains were set afire, window panes of buses smashed and passersby, including a ruling BJP MLA, pelted with stones in Bihar by Army job aspirants whose protest against the Central scheme continued for the second consecutive day. The government on Tuesday unveiled the scheme for the recruitment of soldiers in the Army, Navy and the Air Force largely on a four-year short-term contractual basis, in a major overhaul of the decades-old selection process.

 

Also Read | Modi govt on employment: Agnipath scheme, 10 lakh jobs in 18 months | Everything about big jobs push

Also Read | Modi govt in mission mode! PM asks ministries, departments to recruit 10 lakh people in 1.5 yrs

Latest India News

Live updates : Agnipath scheme protest

  • 9:48 PM (IST) Posted by Abhrobanerjee

    Agnipath protest burns Bihar: The curious case of CM Nitish Kumar's silence

    Bihar witnessed largescale violence on Thursday (June 16) against the newly introduced Agnipath, the recruitment plan for armed forces, with trains being burnt, and buses vandalised by angry protestors. 

    In Nawada, BJP MLA Aruna Devi was attacked while she was on her way to a local court. Agitators pelted stones at her car injuring five people, including the leader. BJP's office in Nawada was also attacked and vandalised. Read More

  • 9:32 PM (IST) Posted by Abhrobanerjee

    Protests in Himachal Pradesh against Centre's Agnipath scheme

    There were protests in Kangra and Hamirpur districts of Himachal Pradesh on Thursday against the Centre's Agnipath scheme for four-year contractual recruitment in the armed forces. The protesters in Kangra, led by Youth Congress district president Pankaj Kumar, tried to reach Dharamshala where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to hold a roadshow but were stopped by police several km away at Gaggal.

    The protesters raised slogans against the government and the prime minister and demanded the rollback of the scheme which they claimed was "a cruel joke" on the unemployed youths of the country.

  • 7:22 PM (IST) Posted by Abhrobanerjee

    Over 34 trains cancelled over protests against Agnipath scheme: Railways

    Over 34 trains were cancelled and eight more partially cancelled on Thursday due to protests against the "Agnipath" scheme to recruit youngsters into the armed forces and delays in the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) exams. 

    The railways said 72 trains were also running late due to the protests. Five mail and express trains and 29 passenger trains were cancelled. Protests were reported from several places across the country against the Agnipath scheme.

  • 6:20 PM (IST) Posted by Paras Bisht

    Protests erupt in UP against Agnipath scheme, stones pelted at govt bus in Agra

    The protests against the Centre's new soldier recruitment scheme spread to different parts of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday with defence service candidates pelting stones at a government bus in Agra, and staging demonstrations in Bulandshahr and Ballia.

  • 6:19 PM (IST) Posted by Paras Bisht

    Govt rejects criticism against Agnipath amidst raging protests in several states; issues clarification

    As violent protests against the new recruitment scheme Agnipath raged across several states, the government on Thursday issued a clarification, asserting that not only the new model will bring in new capabilities to the armed forces but will also open up avenues for youth in the private sector as well as help them in becoming entrepreneurs with the aid of the financial package.

     

  • 6:17 PM (IST) Posted by Paras Bisht

    Agnipath protests: Union minister Choubey says some people using students for political gains

    Union minister and BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Choubey on Thursday urged students protesting against the Agnipath scheme to stop their agitation and keep away from those inciting them, as he asserted that the initiative is in the interests of them, armed forces and the country.

     

  • 4:14 PM (IST) Posted by Paras Bisht

    Haryana Police resorts to aerial firing to warn protesters amid their protest against Agnipath scheme

  • 4:06 PM (IST) Posted by Paras Bisht

    Protesters' demand just, says Kejriwal on Agnipath protest

    The demand of the youth protesting against the Centre's newly announced Agnipath scheme is justified, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday. Kejriwal said that it is not right to keep the dreams of the youth of the country tied to only four years.

     

  • 4:00 PM (IST) Posted by Paras Bisht

    Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra hits out at govt

    In a tweet in Hindi, Priyanka Gandhi said there are many dreams for the future in the eyes of those preparing for recruitment in the armed forces such as serving the country and their parents. "What will the new army recruitment scheme give them? After 4 years, no job guarantee, no pension facility = no rank, no pension. @narendramodi ji don't crush the dreams of the youth," she said.

     

     

  • 3:59 PM (IST) Posted by Paras Bisht

    Don't take 'agnipareeksha' of unemployed youths by making them walk on 'Agnipath': Rahul to PM

  • 3:58 PM (IST) Posted by Paras Bisht

    Protests in parts of Rajasthan against Centre's Agnipath scheme

    Scores of defence job aspirants led by the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) staged protests in several parts of Rajasthan on Thursday against the Centre's Agnipath scheme for four-year contractual recruitment in the armed forces.

     

  • 3:55 PM (IST) Posted by Paras Bisht

    Agnipath yojana a good opportunity for youths : Dhami

    Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Thursday welcomed the Centre's scheme for short-term recruitment in the armed forces saying it is a good opportunity for the youths of the state where serving in the defence is a much sought after profession.

     

  • 2:36 PM (IST) Posted by Paras Bisht

    BJP leader attacked in Nawada

    The protests against Agniveer scheme turned violent in Bihar after agitators attacked, Aruna Devi, representing Warisaliganj of Nawada district. The MLA's vehicle was damaged in the attack.

  • 2:33 PM (IST) Posted by Paras Bisht

    BJP office set on fire in Nawada

    The BJP office was set on fire in Bihar's Nawada district over a protest against the government's recently announced Agniveer scheme. 

  • 2:31 PM (IST) Posted by Paras Bisht

    Armed forces aspirants protest at Bhabua Road railway station, block tracks & set a train ablaze

  • 12:53 PM (IST) Posted by Paras Bisht

    Protestors set train on fire in Chhapra over Agnipath recruitment scheme

    Protestors set train on fire in Chhapra

  • 12:47 PM (IST) Posted by Paras Bisht

    Mayawati asks govt to reconsider 'Agnipath' scheme; calls it 'unfair'

    Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati hit out at the Union government over its new 'Agnipath scheme' of recruiting soldiers, terming it “unfair towards rural youth”.

     

  • 12:46 PM (IST) Posted by Paras Bisht

    'Agnipath' will give rise to more disaffection in youth: BJP MP Varun Gandhi to Rajnath Singh

  • 12:28 PM (IST) Posted by Paras Bisht

    Protests against 'Agnipath' scheme continue in Bihar; road, railway traffic disrupted

    Protests against the Centre's 'Agnipath' scheme for hiring jawans on a short-term contractual basis continued across Bihar for the second consecutive day on Thursday as aspirants preparing for jobs in defence forces disrupted railway and road traffic in Jehanabad, Buxar and Nawada districts.

  • 12:27 PM (IST) Posted by Paras Bisht

    'Agnipath' may prove fatal for the country's future; youths: Akhilesh Yadav

  • 12:24 PM (IST) Posted by Paras Bisht

    Protest against Centre's Agnipath scheme continues in Bihar

    Thousands of youths assembled at the Jahanabad railway station on Patna-Gaya rail route on Thursday and blocked the tracks as protests against the Centre's Agnipath scheme entered day two in Bihar. Incidents of stone pelting were also reported from Arrah. Earlier on Wednesday, a large number of youths demonstrated in Muzaffarpur and Buxar districts of the state and disrupted road and rail traffic.

  • 12:23 PM (IST) Posted by Paras Bisht

    Huge crowd gathers in protest in Nawada

  • 12:22 PM (IST) Posted by Paras Bisht

    Armed forces aspirants protest in Munger

  • 12:20 PM (IST) Posted by Paras Bisht

    Where will we go after working for only 4 years?... we will be homeless after 4 years of service. So we have jammed the roads," said protestor in Jehanabad

  • 12:19 PM (IST) Posted by Paras Bisht

    Rail and road traffic disrupted by the protesting students in Jehanabad

  • 12:18 PM (IST) Posted by Paras Bisht

    Youths demonstrate in Chhapra against the recently announced Agnipath recruitment scheme

  • 12:03 PM (IST) Posted by Paras Bisht

    Protests erupt in Bihar against Agnipath scheme, Army aspirants demand its withdrawal