Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday slammed the Centre over the short-tenure military recruitment scheme Agnipath, alleging that the government has ruined the dedication and dreams of countless hardworking and promising youth.

Gandhi shared a video on social media of his recent interaction with a group of youth who, he said, had come on foot from Bihar's Champaran to express their struggle.

In his post along with the video, Gandhi said that under the guise of the Agniveer Yojana, "by cancelling the 'permanent recruitment' of the Army which was to run till 2019-21, the government ruined the dedication and dreams of countless hardworking and promising youth".

"These youth have come on foot from Champaran to express their struggle. Many such youth were given false assurances of appointment after completion of the entire process and in the end they were left to fend for themselves on the pretext of Agnipath," Gandhi said of his meeting with the youth.

"Today these youth are left with nothing but unemployment, despair, and humiliation - they have no plan B except the army," he added.

In the video, the youth told Gandhi that they had been selected for recruitment in the Army but due to the announcement of the Agnipath scheme, their future had been left in limbo.

Gandhi told them that the government should adequately compensate them.

The Agnipath scheme, announced on June 14, 2022, provides for the recruitment of youngsters in the age bracket of 17-and-a-half to 21 years for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years.

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