Agnipath scheme: Delhi Minister Gopal Rai announce 'joint movement' at Jantar Mantar on June 20

New Delhi: Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Friday said that a joint movement will be held at Jantar Mantar in the national capital on June 20 against the recently announced Agnipath Recruitment Scheme by the Central Government.

"A joint movement will be organized at Jantar Mantar in Delhi at 11 am on June 20 against the Agnipath scheme," he said in a tweet.

He has also appealed to all the organizations of 'Syukt Rojgar Andolan Samiti' to reach Jantar Mantar.

Protests have broken out in various parts of the country against the new recruitment scheme in the Armed Forces. In some places, the protests turned violent as trains were set ablaze.

Meanwhile, one person died in Telangana's Secunderabad on Friday as protests against the newly announced military recruitment policy, Agnipath, turned violent.

Earlier, protesters torched compartments of a train in Bihar's Samastipur and those in another train at Lakhisarai station.

Notably, Agnipath Scheme was launched by the government, on June 14, in an effort to bring a change in the recruitment process of the Armed Forces. With the new military recruitment scheme facing a backlash by Opposition, the Centre has decided to bring a change in the upper age limit for recruiting Agniveers.

Granting a one-time waiver, the Centre on June 16, 2022, announced that the Agniveer upper age limit for recruitments via Agnipath Scheme has been extended to 23 years from 21 years.

The scheme is called Agnipath and the youth selected under this scheme will be known as Agniveers. Agnipath allows patriotic and motivated youth to serve in the Armed Forces for a period of four years. (ANI)