AT the call of various Left youth and students' organisations, protests were conducted across the country against the recently announced Agnipath scheme and unemployment in the country. Unemployment in the country is rising day by day while the vacancies in different central government offices have remained vacant for many years. It is at this juncture that the central government announced the Agnipath scheme which shattered the dreams of millions of young people in the country who were undergoing training for years for joining the army. Various Left organisations have been on the streets in protest since the day the scheme was announced. Later a joint platform was formed under the leadership of Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) to fight both unemployment and Agnipath scheme at the national level. A country-wide protest day's call was given on June 29 by this joint platform.
In the national capital, youth and students joined in large numbers the protest gathering against the Agnipath scheme at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Himagnaraj Bhattacharya, general secretary, DYFI, addressed the gathering and reminded of the empty promise of 2 crore jobs per year given by the BJP and Modi before they came to power in 2014. He pointed out that contrary to this promise, unemployment rate had reached a 45 year high under the rule of BJP. He called for the continuation of united movement in every state against the vinashpath (destructive) Agnipath scheme and unemployment in the country. A A Rahim, DYFI president and MP, reminded that contractualisation of labour is a huge threat to the workforce and the youth. He pointed out that the Agnipath scheme was in its essence an attempt to contractualise a major part of the armed forces. This would not only be a loss of regular employment but also a threat to national security. It was due to these reasons that the youth across the country were in protest.
Protest demonstrations and marches were organised to various central government offices in Kerala under the leadership of Left Democratic Youth Federation (LDYF). The protest dharna organised at BSNL office, Thrissur was inaugurated by V S Sunil Kumar. In Haryana, a youth padayatra was conducted in protest starting from Talu village to Lajwana Kala, a village in Jind district. Thousands of youngsters and students joined this march. Bihar witnessed a massive rally of youngsters to Vidhan Sabha in which various Left organisations were present. In different districts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, protest demonstrations were conducted by Left organisations. In Kurnool, a protest gathering was organised by DYFI, SFI, AIDSO and AISA. In Hyderabad, protest was conducted by DYFI, PYL and AIYF and an effigy symbolising Agnipath scheme was burnt. In Vijayawada also, protest gathering took place under the leadership of SFI, DYFI and AISA. In Maharashtra, a protest gathering was conducted at Surgana taluka, Nashik district in Maharashtra in which hundreds of youngsters participated. DYFI led the protest.
A joint meeting of all organisations was held after the protest at Jantar Mantar. A collective decision was made that the movement will be further intensified in the upcoming days. A propaganda week will be observed to ensure that awareness regarding the alarming condition of unemployment in the country and Agnipath scheme reaches the grassroots levels. Pamphlet distribution will be conducted at public places such as railway stations and bus stops. Following this, a gathering of ex-servicemen and army aspirants will be conducted at village level in all states. Representatives of organisations observed that solidarity from these sections will benefit the movement in a positive way. Along with such intensive campaign, protests will be conducted all throughout the country. Left youth and student organisations vowed that they shall not step back from the fight against unemployment and anti-youth Agnipath scheme, no matter how much the central government tries to stop them.
