Agnipath has shattered dreams of youth to serve country, alleges Cong’

New Delhi, Jul 9 (PTI) The Congress on Sunday slammed the BJP-led Centre over the military recruitment scheme Agnipath, alleging that it has shattered the dreams of the youth to serve the country and created various apprehensions in their minds.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh’s attack on the government came over a media report which claimed that many youths who joined the Indian Army as ‘Agniveers’ were leaving training midway.

In a tweet in Hindi, Ramesh said, “Earlier, it used to be the dream of the youth to join the Army and serve the country. Respecting the resolve of the youth to serve the country, they were given better facilities and job security.”

“The very foundation of Agniveer Yojana is wrong. It has shattered the dreams of the youth to serve the country and has created various apprehensions. The result is before everyone,” Ramesh said.

The Agnipath scheme involves recruiting citizens into the armed forces for four years, with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them.