The move came a day after the violence in several pockets of the country turned more violent and led to a death.
New Delhi: A day after the Centre announced a one-time relaxation in the upper age limit for Armed Forces aspirants under the newly-introduced Agnipath Scheme, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), in an effort to dial down the protests taking place across the country, announced a further relaxation in the norms on Saturday.
In a statement, the MHA said, “The MHA also decides to give 3 years age relaxation beyond the prescribed upper age limit to Agniveers for recruitment in CAPFs & Assam Rifles. Further, for the first batch of Agniveer, the age relaxation will be for 5 years beyond the prescribed upper age limit.”
It added, “The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) decides to reserve 10% vacancies for recruitment in CAPFs and Assam Rifles for Agniveers.”
The move came a day after the violence in several pockets of the country turned more violent and led to a death. A youth died, another was critical and several others were injured after the Telangana Police opened fire at the protestors who went on a rampage at the Secunderabad Railway Station on Friday against the Centre’s Agnipath Scheme. The protestors had set train coaches on fire and had damaged stalls inside the station premises.
The agitators also damaged offices on Platform numbers 1 and 10, “ransacked computers and electronics, destroyed CCTV cameras, lights and fans on all 10 platforms and pelted stones at the police,” said officials. Food and convenience stalls on all the platforms were also looted and set on fire.
To quell the swelling mob, the police reportedly fired 10 rounds of bullets. As many as 13 persons are undergoing treatment at the Gandhi Hospital and one among them is said to be in a serious condition with injury on his chest.
Meanwhile, Protests by Armed Forces aspirants against the Agnipath scheme continued on Friday in several parts of the country with reports of the agitators burning trains in several pockets of Bihar coming in since early morning. The protests have also spread in other parts of the country but Bihar seems to be the worst-hit.
