BAGHPAT, 26 Jun: Meghalaya Governor Satya Pal Malik on Sunday slammed the Agnipath scheme as a “fraud” with the hopes of future jawans and said that those retiring without a pension after serving the armed forces for four years would hardly attract any marriage proposal.
Malik, who has also served as Jammu & Kashmir governor, urged the government to “reconsider” the new scheme under which youths will be recruited as soldiers on a contractual basis.
Seventy-five percent of the recruits will be retired – they will be called ‘agniveers’ – after four years of service with the benefit of pension or health insurance.
“Future jawans will train for six months, and they will have six months of leave. After three years of job, when they return to their homes, they will hardly get any marriage proposal,” Malik told reporters here.
“The Agnipath scheme is against future jawans, and a fraud with their hopes,” he added.
Asked by journalists if he should have quit as governor before raising the political issue, Malik quipped, “Had I got into the ‘chakkar’ (trap) of advisers like you, I would not have been able to reach this place.”
“I will leave the post in a minute if the person who has made me (a governor) asks me to do so,” he said. (PTI)
