Rahul Gandhi on Sunday slammed the Centre's Agnipath scheme, saying the government was playing with the aspirations of youths willing to join the armed forces and serve the country.

The Darjeeling region is a strong catchment area for the armed forces. Rahul was clearly making an attempt to connect with the concerns of the youths in the region.

“The armed forces used to guarantee the future of the young people who joined the forces, the army, navy, airforce, through pension and other guarantees to the families,” said Rahul. “However, this new scheme that has come, says that after four years 75 per cent will be sent home, (which means) three out of four will return home,” Rahul said.

The Centre implemented the Agnipath scheme in 2022 in which soldiers below the rank of commissioned officers are hired only for four years. These recruits are called Agniveers and only 25 per cent will be absorbed in the force after four years. The rest will get a consolidated sum to leave the force.

Many in the region maintain that with the launch of Agniveer, many youths changed their mind about joining the army. “This is not to say that there is an abrupt halt in the recruitment but the enthusiasm to join the army is not as high as before...,” said an ex-serviceman from Darjeeling.

Rahul pointed out the disparity in compensation between an Agniveer and a regular armyman. “In the event of being martyred, there is a difference in compensation between Agniveer and regular army personnel. How can you have two types of martyrs?" he asked.