India calls off hundreds of trains

FE Team | Published: June 21, 2022 00:31:07

Authorities in India cancelled more than 500 trains services on Monday because of calls for protests by young men angry with a military recruitment plan that they say will rob them of the opportunity of a career in the armed forces, report agencies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government last week unveiled the plan called Agnipath, or path of fire, aimed at bringing more people into the military on short, four-year contracts to lower the average age of India's 1.38 million-strong armed forces.
Analysts say the scheme will also help cut burgeoning pension costs.
But the protesters say it will deprive them of the opportunity of a permanent job in the military, and with it a guaranteed pension, other allowances and social status.
Even as the protests continued over the centre's 'Agnipath' short-term recruitment plan for armed forces, the Army on Monday issued a notification for the induction of soldiers under the scheme. The online registration begins from July, said the notification. The railways has suffered a major loss of property due to arson and rioting by the protesters over the last five days.
Congress leaders have sat on a 'Satyagraha' at Jantar Mantar in the national capital to express solidarity with the armed forces aspirants protesting against the 'Agnipath' scheme. Some Youth Congress workers were detained after they blocked a train at the Shivaji Bridge railway station near Connaught Place.