NEW DELHI: Attacking the government over the Agnipath scheme, senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily on Wednesday said that after a four-year stint, the 'Agniveers' will remain devoid of the status of ex-servicemen with "no skills" transferable to civil life.
The former Union minister also said the recently launched military recruitment scheme will lead to a scenario under which there will be a "flood of unemployed youths" thrown into the market.
In a statement, Moily alleged that the scheme is one of "exploiting the youth of this nation" and will "impinge" upon the professionalism, operational capabilities and combativeness of the armed forces.
He said the scheme has been announced without any serious study. Moily alleged that the scheme seems to be motivated by political considerations instead of being based on the considered view of the defence experts or Armed Forces.
"The professionalism, integrity and sovereignty of the nation is being compromised. Can we afford to compromise the above just to save budgetary allotment to the armed forces. It is preposterous and dangerous to achieve political objective through armed forces," Moily said.
"It is again nightmarish to think of such off-the-cuff schemes like demonetisation. Measures such as demonetisation caused irreparable damage to the MSMEs and unorganised labourers. Similar irreparable damage is likely to be caused by the Agnipath scheme," he said.
The Agniveers will be "devoid of the status of ex-servicemen with no skills transferable to civil life", he said.
"It is quite attractive to hear the voices of corporations prompted by government offering rehabilitation to the Agniveers. Has this been done to hundreds of ex-servicemen who are in the waiting? Existing quotas of ex-servicemen in various government departments are yet to be filled," Moily said.
Several parts of the country witnessed protests after the announcement of the scheme that seeks to recruit youths between the age bracket of 17-and-half years to 21 for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years. For 2022, the upper age limit has been extended to 23 years.