"Army Was Against Agniveer Scheme, Decisions Were Made In PMO": Rahul Gandhi

Shahdol (Madhya Pradesh) [India]: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday claimed that Indian Army was against the idea of Agnipath scheme adding that this policy was a brainchild of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all decisions regarding it were taken in the Prime Minister Office.

"Earlier poor used to join Army, they used to get pension. Now they are training an individual for 4 months whereas a Chinese soldier is getting training for five years. You know what will happen, and when that agniveer will die he won't get anything no pension, no canteen.

We will abolish this scheme once our government comes to power. Interstingly, even Army is against the Agniveer scheme. This scheme was the idea of Prime Minister and its decision was taken in Prime Minister office," Rahul Gandhi said while addressing a rally in Shahdol.

Congress in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls has promised to abolish Agnipath Scheme and return to the normal recruitment processes followed by the Army, Navy and Air Force.

"It will guarantee economic and social security for our soldiers," the manifesto read.
Rahul Gandhi further said that a caste census and an economic survey is much needed for the country.

"If the Govt of India spends Rs 10 then an Adivasi officer takes decision for only 10 paise. This has to be changed. A caste census and then an economic survey would expose the truth. Economic survey will also reveal the data about the accumulation of the resources," he said.

Wayanad MP also mentioned that there are 30 lakh vacancies lying vacant in the Union Government but BJP is unwilling to fulfil it.

"The Govt of India has 30 lakh vacancies. The people in the BJP don't give them to you. They give you work on contract but don't give you govt jobs. We will grant you 30 lakh govt jobs as our first step after the formation of our govt," he said.

Lok Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh will be conducted in four phases. The first phase of polling would be held on April 19, followed by April 26, May 7 and May 13.

Madhya Pradesh has a total of 29 Lok Sabha constituencies, making it the sixth-largest state in terms of parliamentary representation.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, the BJP secured a massive victory in Madhya Pradesh, winning 28 out of the 29 seats. The Indian National Congress (INC) managed to win only one seat.