Thiruvananthapuram

Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan on Friday said that the Central government has bought Agnipath scheme with the right intentions while adding that some people are agitating due to misunderstanding.

The Union Minister assured that the government is considerate towards the concerns of the youth and will make every effort to address them.

"Government has brought the Agnipath Scheme with the right intentions, maybe some people are agitating due to misunderstanding. Government is responsive to issues of citizens and today the age has been raised to 23. They should consider that the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been always considerate towards the concerns of the youth and will make every effort to address it," he said.

Protests have broken out in various parts of the country against the new recruitment scheme in the Armed Forces. In some places, the protests turned violent as trains were set ablaze.

One person died in Telangana's Secunderabad on Friday as protests against the newly announced military recruitment policy, Agnipath, turned violent.

Earlier, protesters torched compartments of a train in Bihar's Samastipur and Lakhisarai stations.

Notably, Agnipath Scheme was launched by the government, on June 14, in an effort to bring a change in the recruitment process of the Armed Forces. With the new military recruitment scheme facing a backlash by Opposition, the Centre has decided to bring a change in the upper age limit for recruiting Agniveers.

Granting a one-time waiver, the Centre on June 16, 2022, announced that the Agniveer upper age limit for recruitments via Agnipath Scheme has been extended to 23 years from 21 years.

The scheme is called Agnipath and the youth selected under this scheme will be known as Agniveers. Agnipath allows patriotic and motivated youth to serve in the Armed Forces for a period of four years.