Srinagar, July 26 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a veiled attack on the Opposition said on Friday that some people were “politicising a sensitive issue like Agnipath Scheme” and hailed the new military recruitment scheme for its role in keeping the forces young and battle-ready.
Addressing a gathering on the occasion of 25th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas at Dras, Ladakh, Prime Minister said, “Continuous reform is going on in the defence sector and Agnipath Scheme as one of the crucial reforms.”
“The purpose of Agnipath is to keep forces young and continuously battle-ready,” Modi asserted, lamenting the blatant politicisation of this sensitive subject.
Rubbishing the claim as a propaganda that the Agnipath Scheme was a means to save the burden of pension, Modi reminded that pension burden of the soldiers being recruited today will come up after 30 years, therefore, this cannot be the reason behind the scheme.
“We have respected this decision taken by the armed forces because for us the security of the country is more important than politics,” he added.
“The truth is that the Agnipath scheme will increase the strength of the country and the country will also get capable youth. Announcements have been made to give priority to Agniveers in the private sector and paramilitary forces as well,” he said.
The Prime Minister said that that those misleading the youth of the country today had no regard for the armed forces in the past.
Recalling the false promises made by past governments on One Rank One Pension, the Prime Minister underlined that it was the present government that implemented the scheme where ex-servicemen were given more than Rs 1.25 lakh crores.
While pointing towards the alleged neglect of the armed forces by previous governments, the PM said, “These are the same people who did not build a war memorial for the martyrs even after seven decades of independence, did not provide enough bulletproof jackets to our soldiers deployed on the border and kept ignoring Kargil Vijay Diwas.”
