‘Agniveer’ Scheme Ploy To Benefit A Corporate House: Rahul Gandhi

On Friday, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi charged the Narendra Modi government with having introduced the ‘Agniveer’ scheme in order to spend the defence budget for the benefit of a big business house, in place of emoluments paid to the soldiers.

Rahul Gandhi made this allegation at a Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra (BJNY) rally in Mohania in the Kaimur district of Bihar, bordering Uttar Pradesh. Youth from this region are known to enrol in the armed forces on a large scale; it also witnessed widespread protests against the Agniveer scheme two years ago.

Gandhi said, “An Agniveer will not receive salary and pension on par with a regular army soldier, nor will he have access to the canteen.”

On June 15, 2022, the government launched the ‘Agniveer’ scheme to recruit aspirants in ‘below the officer’s rank’ cadre for the three armed services for a period of four years as ‘Agniveers’.

“This is because the Modi government does not want to spend the defence budget on salary and other perks of soldiers. It wants to spend the amount for the benefit of a business house,” the former Congress president claimed.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi said that if the INDIA bloc came to power after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, his party would accept long-pending demands of farmers in the country and ensure a legal guarantee for a minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

“Cultivators are not getting remunerative prices for their crops,” Gandhi claimed, addressing the Kisan Nyay Panchayat, a gathering of farmers, in Bihar’s Rohtas as part of the BJNY.

Gandhi said, “If the INDIA bloc comes to power after the general elections, we will provide a legal guarantee of MSP. Whenever farmers have asked for something from the Congress, it has been given to them. Be it loan waiver or MSP, we have always protected the interests of cultivators and will do so in future.”

Gandhi’s comment came amidst the ongoing Bharat Bandh called on Friday by Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) — the farmers’ body — to press the BJP-led Central government to accept cultivators’ demands, including a legal guarantee of MSP.

On February 13, farmers from Punjab began their Delhi Chalo march but were stopped by security personnel at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Delhi and Haryana. Since then, the protesting farmers have been camping at the border points. Their agitation entered its fifth day on Saturday.

“If you look at the coverage in the media, you find little mention of farmers and other people and Opposition leaders like us. You will find Modi sharing space with his friends,”Gandhi said, addressing the rally at Mohania. The Congress leader also said, “Sometimes, you may also find Nitish Kumar next to the prime minister.”

Aimed at the Bihar chief minister, who recently dumped the Opposition INDIA bloc and returned to the BJP-led NDA coalition, the remark evoked peals of laughter from the crowd.

Speaking on the Agnipath scheme, the Congress MP accused the Union government of “transferring a considerable portion of funds of the defence budget into the pockets” of an industrialist. He alleged that “the Centre’s defence budget is not for the welfare of jawans, all defence contracts are going to one corporate group only.”

The Congress MP asked, “If an Agniveer is injured or martyred, they will not receive adequate compensation. Why this discrimination? Why have they created separate categories in the Army for Agniveers and others?”