Industrial leaders should first employ retired soldiers: Akhilesh on support to Agnipath scheme

A day after several industrial leaders backed the Centre’s Agnipath scheme, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday asked them to first employ retired defense personnel to win the confidence of the youth protesting the government’s initiative. The leader of the opposition in the UP Assembly said they will be sent the supporters of the scheme a list of retired soldiers for employment.

Yadav’s statement came after industrial leaders like Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra, RPG Enterprises chairman Harsh Goenka, and Biocon Ltd chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw backed the scheme, saying it has a large potential for employment of the youth in the corporate sector. The Centre had last weeks announced its ambitious Agnipath scheme, triggering protests across the country. Under the scheme, the youth aged between 17 and a half years and 21 will be recruited in the Army, Navy, and Air Forced on a four-year short-term contractual basis. The youth recruited under the scheme will be known as ”Agniveers”. ”We want to cooperate with those big people who are making promises of giving jobs to ‘Agniveers’ in their companies and offices in future,” Yadav said in a tweet on Tuesday.

They should prove the veracity and seriousness of the promise by employing retired soldiers immediately in their companies so that ”Agniveers” could trust them after four years of their service, Yadav said.

”Trust will be generated by ‘Karni” (action) and not by ‘Kathi’ (statements),” he added.

In another tweet, Yadav said the BJP should also release a list of its members or supporters whose children will be opting for the scheme.

”It is better to set an example than to give a lecture. The BJP should stop insulting the youth,” he said.