The Punjab Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution against the Centre’s Agnipath armed forces recruitment scheme.

The resolution was moved by chief minister and AAP leader Bhagwant Mann.

Participating in the discussion on the resolution, Mann said he would soon raise the Agnipath scheme with the Prime Minister and the Union home minister.

Mann said the scheme was against the country’s youth. Leader of the Opposition and Congress legislator Partap Singh Bajwa demanded that the Agnipath scheme be withdrawn. Akali MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali supported the resolution and demanded the scheme’s rollback.

“The unilateral announcement of the Agnipath scheme by the government of India has witnessed widespread reactions in all states, including Punjab,” Mann said while reading the resolution.

“The Punjab Vidhan Sabha strongly feels that the scheme, where youths will be employed only for a period of four years and only up to 25 per cent will be retained, is neither in the best interests of national security nor of the youth of this country. This policy is likely to create dissatisfaction among the youth who wish to serve the armed forces of the nation for a lifetime,” the chief minister said.

It must be highlighted that more than one lakh soldiers from Punjab serve in the armed forces and many of them lay down their lives on the country’s borders every year, he pointed out.

“This scheme has crushed the dreams of many youths of Punjab who have been aspiring to join the armed forces as regular soldiers,” Mann said.