Government announces concessions to scheme as police arrest at least 260 people and hundreds of train services cancelled due to unrest
\nDanapur
\nProtesters in India\u2019s eastern state of Bihar have damaged public property and ransacked offices in a railway station, expressing outrage at a new military recruitment plan and demanding the government reverse course.
\nThe government of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, has introduced a scheme called Agnipath, or \u201cpath of fire\u201d, designed to bring more people into the military on four-year contracts to lower the average age of India\u2019s 1.38 million-strong armed forces.
\nA top military general, Lieut Gen Anil Puri, told the NDTV news channel that the aim of the plan was to make the military more modern and effective.
\nAnalysts said the new scheme would also help cut burgeoning pension costs, but opponents believe it would limit opportunities for permanent jobs in the defence forces, with implications for salaries, pensions and other benefits.
\nProtesters surrounding burning tyres on a street in Jehanabad, Bihar.
\nOne person was killed this week and more than a dozen have been injured in a series of protests in some regions of the country against the new scheme.
\nThousands of young men attacked train coaches, burned tyres and clashed with officials at a railway station in Bihar, one of India\u2019s poorest states, on Saturday.
\nAuthorities cancelled 369 trains nationwide, many of them running through areas witnessing unrest.
\nSanjay Singh, a senior police official overseeing law and order in the state, said at least 12 protesters were arrested and at least four policemen injured in clashes.
\n\u201cAround 2,000 to 2,500 people entered the Masaurhi railway station and attacked the forces,\u201d he said.
\nIn Uttar Pradesh, India\u2019s most populous state, police arrested at least 250 people under what are called preventative arrests. Some demonstrators accused the police of using excessive force.
\nIn a bid to contain the outrage, the federal government on Saturday announced concessions for those who will serve under the scheme.
\nIndian disaster response workers rescue flood-hit villagers west of Gauhati, India
\nThe federal home ministry announced it would reserve 10% of vacancies in the paramilitary forces and Assam Rifles, a unit in the Indian army, for those who have passed out of the army after the four-year period mandated in the scheme.
\nThe defence ministry stated it would reserve 10% of its vacancies for those who have completed the scheme.
\n\u201cPerhaps because it is a new scheme, people have misunderstood it, but we have been discussing this with everyone, including ex-servicemen,\u201d the defence minister, Rajnath Singh, told a conference on Saturday.
\nThe scheme calls for retaining 25% of the recruited soldiers after four years of service, with the rest getting priority for other jobs, such as with the state police.
\nThe navy chief said on Friday the protests were unexpected and probably the result of misinformation about the new system.
\n\u201cI didn\u2019t anticipate any protests like this,\u201d Admiral R Hari Kumar told ANI. \u201cIt is the single biggest human resource management transformation that has ever happened in the Indian military.\u201d
\nThe scheme is not open for women in combat roles and there are no current plans to change this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Government announces concessions to scheme as police arrest at least 260 people and hundreds of train services cancelled due to unrest Danapur Protesters in India\u2019s eastern state of Bihar have damaged public property and ransacked offices in a railway station, expressing outrage at a new military recruitment plan and demanding the government reverse course. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266995,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[195,2636,8702],"class_list":{"0":"post-266977","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-india","9":"tag-protests","10":"tag-ransack-railway-station"},"yoast_head":"\n