Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has written to Indian President Droupadi Murmu in her capacity as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, for benefits to Agniveer – young people who sign up for a short, four-year service in the defence services’ Agnipath schemes – equal to what a regular soldier gets if killed in the line of duty.
In his letter dated March 31, 2024, Gandhi drew Murmu’s attention to the plight of the family of an Agniveer martyr Ajay Singh, 23, who died in a landmine blast near the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir on January 18 this year.
Gandhi wrote he had "visited the family of Agniveer Ajay Kumar in Ramgarh Sardaran village in Punjab," a few days back and was shocked to see his family living in abject poverty.
“I met his six sisters and parents, who work as daily wager labourers, in their single-room home. His family shared stories about Ajay’s life. Despite losing their son, they were proud of his sacrifice in service to the nation,” Gandhi wrote.
He said Ajay's family described to him “the shocking apathy and insensitivity displayed by the government in the aftermath of his death. Ajay’s family has received none of the lifetime benefits or social security that the families of regular soldiers receive.”
There was no pension, medical facilities, assistance for education, preference in employment, he said.
It was a “tragic situation,” faced by Ajay's family, “the same injustice that thousands of Agniveers face today, and lakhs more will face in the future,” the Congress leader said.
This was his attempt to illustrate the “fundamental flaw in the Agnipath scheme,” Gandhi said, which was the creation of a ‘lesser’ cadre of soldiers expected to work on similar tasks (as regular soldiers) with lower pay, benefits and prospects.
Requesting Murmu’s “intervention,” he said as President she could not generally interfere in matters of policy, but an exception had to be made to address the “discrimination against our Agniveer who bravely risk their lives to serve.”
“Do we not owe a duty to ensure the well-being of Ajay’s parents, his sisters and other families like theirs,” he asked?
Murmu was asked to do “Nyaay – justice – to Agniveer soldiers who lay down their lives by ensuring they receive the same benefits as any soldier who makes the highest sacrifice for our motherland.”
The letter also mentioned that this injustice was the reason why the “Congress Party and our INDIA allies have strongly opposed the Agnipath scheme and have promised to repeal it if we form the government.”
He did not mention in the letter what the INDIA Bloc intended to do to secure the future of Agniveer currently serving the nation in case the alliance scrapped the scheme.
Punjab Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Bhagwant Singh Mann had, during a visit to Ajay Kumar’s family on January 25, handed over a cheque of Rs 1 crore to them.
The Agnipath recruitment scheme was rolled out in 2022 for short-term recruitment of youngsters aged between 17-and-a-half years to 21 years for four years, of which 25 per cent would be retained for 15 years.
The scheme is aimed at lowering the age profile of the three services.
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