New Delhi

Police and Rapid Action Force personnel have been deployed at Jantar Mantar ahead of the 'Satyagraha' protest of the Congress party against the Centre's Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the Indian Armed Forces.

The grand old party is likely to hold a 'satyagraha' on Sunday at Jantar Mantar in solidarity with the youth protesting against Central Government's Agnipath Recruitment Scheme. All MPs, CWC members, and AICC office bearers will participate in the protest. 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.

Earlier on Saturday, 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 those in another train at Lakhisarai station.

As many as 340 train services were affected on Friday due to youth's agitation against the recently launched Agnipath recruitment scheme. 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.