Congress promises to scrap Agnipath scheme; ‘Army of 1.4 million will reduce to 800,000 within 10 years,’ Hooda claims

The Indian National Congress (INC) has made a promise of scrapping the Agnipath scheme of recruitment for the army ahead of the Lok Sabha Election 2024. They have claimed that the system reduces service benefits and the tenure of officers. “Our defence expenditure is increasing...it was recently said that we are earning a lot of money through defence exports...that we are becoming independent and doing indigenous manufacturing. If our defence department is generating so much income, and we are becoming so capable, then the most important thing would be to make resources available for the jobs, recruitment, and families of our brave soldiers available,” INC leader Sachin Pilot said in a press conference. 

The INC deemed this measure as a weakening of the Indian Army. They highlighted that the demand for this did not emerge from any section of India and that an average drop in recruitment of 60,000-65,000 per year has been witnessed in the army. “If the recruitment numbers continue to fall at this rate, our army of 1.4 million will reduce to 800,000 within 10 years. The first adverse effect of this scheme would be that soldiers would return home after four years without a pension. Where will he go? In response, Vijayvargiya said that such youths would be given jobs as security guards at BJP offices.Today, they are forced to go the Dunki route, illegally immigrating...and working as labourers,” INC MP Deepender Hooda stated.