Agnipath Yojana:
A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court against the Centre’s Agnipath Yojana, alleging that the government has scrapped the age-old selection process for the armed forces, contrary to constitutional provisions and without parliamentary approval.
Advocate Manohar Lal Sharma said in his petition, “Contrary to the constitutional provisions and in Parliament and without any gazette notification, the respondent (Centre) quashed the age-old army selection process and Agniveer-22 scheme implemented in the country.. . and announced to start it from June 24.”
He termed the plan as “illegal” and “unconstitutional” and sought a direction to the court to quash the June 14 press note issued by the Defense Ministry.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet the three chiefs of the armed forces – the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force (IAF) – amid the Agnipath Yojana controversy. The three chiefs of the armed forces are likely to apprise PM Modi about various aspects of the implementation of the Agnipath Yojana.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister, while speaking in favour of the Agnipath Yojana, had said that some decisions “may seem bitter at first” but will bear fruit in the days to come.
The ‘Agnipath Yojana’ has a provision to recruit youth between 17 and a half years to 21 years of age for only four years, retaining 25% of them for 15 more years. The government raised the upper age limit for recruitment to 23 years in 2022. The personnel to be recruited under the new scheme will be known as ‘Agniveer’.
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