In what comes as an embarrassment to the Congress, party leader Manish Tewari, on Monday, refused to sign a letter to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in which the opposition parties expressed their reservations to the 'Agnipath' recruitment scheme to the armed forces, and sought its withdrawal.
According to media reports, the letter was signed by six opposition MPAs, including Shaktisinh Gohil of the Congress, Supriya Sule of the NCP and Sudip Bandyopadhyay of the TMC. Tewari was among the seven opposition MPs who met Singh to express their reservations regarding the recruitment scheme. They submitted the letter to the defence minister, seeking the withdrawal of the scheme.
Earlier, after the scheme was announced, Tewari had said it is a much-needed reform in the right direction even as his party vehemently opposed it. "This is a reform which is much-needed and is a reform in the right direction," Tewari had said, adding, "Armed forces of Union shouldn't be an employment guarantee programme."
Ahead of the monsoon session of the Parliament, Singh gave a presentation to the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Defence members on the military recruitment scheme on Monday. The presentation was aimed at addressing the concerns of the opposition leaders.
After the nearly-two-hour meeting addressed by the defence minister and the three chiefs of the armed forces, opposition MPs, including those from the Congress, the NCP and the TMC, raised objections to the new recruitment scheme and said it should be rolled back.
Gohil cited the criticism of the scheme by experts and decorated soldiers and said it should be withdrawn as it would affect the morale of the forces and create confusion.
He said the scheme should first be launched as a pilot project and those trained be recruited in the armed forces. It should only be introduced after working out various modalities, Gohil added.
The Congress leader was supported by Sule and Roy.
—With PTI inputs
