Protesters in the eastern Indian state of Bihar damaged public property and looted railway station offices, expressing outrage at the new military recruitment plan and urging the government to change course.
The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has introduced a scheme called the Agnipath, or “path of fire”, designed to attract more people into the army on four-year contracts to reduce the average age of India’s 1.38 million armed forces.
A senior military general, Lieutenant General Anil Puri, told the NDTV news channel that the plan aims to make the army more modern and efficient.
Analysts said the new scheme would also help reduce rising pension costs, but opponents said it would limit opportunities for permanent work in the defense force, with consequences for salaries, pensions and other benefits.
One person was killed this week and more than a dozen were injured in a series of protests in some parts of the country against the new scheme.
Thousands of young men attacked wagons, burned tires and clashed with employees at a railway station in Bihar, one of India’s poorest states, on Saturday.
Authorities canceled 369 trains across the country, many of them passing through areas witnessing unrest.
Sanjay Singh, a senior state law enforcement officer, said at least 12 protesters had been arrested and at least four police officers injured in clashes.
A policeman fires a gun during protests in Patna, Bihar. Photo: Reuters
“About 2,000 to 2,500 people entered the Masaurhi railway station and attacked the forces,” he said.
In Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, police have arrested at least 250 people in so-called preventive arrests. Some protesters accused police of using excessive force.
In a bid to contain the outrage, the federal government announced discounts on Saturday for those who will serve under the scheme.
The Federal Ministry of the Interior has announced that it will keep 10% of the vacancies in the paramilitary forces and Assam Rifles, a unit of the Indian Army, for those who left the army after the four-year period provided for in the scheme.
The defense ministry said it would keep 10% of its vacancies for those who have completed the scheme.
“Maybe because this is a new scheme, people have misunderstood it, but we discussed it with everyone, including ex-servicemen,” Defense Minister Rajnat Singh told a conference on Saturday.
The scheme provides for the detention of 25% of mercenaries after four years of service, with the rest given priority to other jobs, such as the state police.
The navy chief said on Friday that the protests were unexpected and likely the result of misinformation about the new system.
“I did not expect such protests,” Admiral R Harry Kumar told ANI. “This is the biggest transformation in human resource management that has ever taken place in the Indian Army.
The scheme is not open to women in combat roles and there are currently no plans to change that.
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