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regular-article-logo Friday, 10 May 2024

Uttar Pradesh: Mobs vandalise train, attack railway property

Another group of protesters carrying sticks argued with the police

Our Bureau & Agencies Lucknow Published 17.06.22, 08:55 AM
Representational Picture

Representational Picture File Picture

A mob attacked a train in Uttar Pradesh's Ballia district on Friday amid protest against government's newest scheme Agnipath, reports ndtv.com.

The mob also destroyed a property of a railway station, before cops used force to disperse them.

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Another group of protesters carrying sticks argued with the police on the streets outside the railway station in the eastern UP district.

Natiowide, the depth of the job crisis in the country and the despair of its youth have broken through the coiffured veneer.

Armed forces job aspirants disappointed at the Agnipath recruitment scheme exploded in protest from Bihar to Jammu on Thursday, blocking roads and tracks, torching trains and stoning the police.

Amid the agitation, the government offered a one-time relaxation in the upper age limit for 2022, raising it to 23 years from 21, possibly to meet the criticism that the scheme’s introduction has been particularly harsh coming after a two-year freeze in recruitments.

In epicentre Bihar, the BJP came under fire with Warsaliganj MLA Aruna Devi having to run for her life after her car was attacked, Chapra MLA C.N. Gupta’s house being vandalised and the party office in Nawada torched.

Trains were torched at Gopalganj, Chapra and Kaimur Road railway stations, while the protesters virtually seized Ara railway station in Bhojpur district, setting up pitched battles with the police.

Across the country, youths carried placards and posters and shouted slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and defence minister Rajnath Singh, accusing them of playing with their lives, calling the Agnipath scheme a “cruel joke” and demanding its immediate rollback.

Under the Agnipath scheme, youths aged 17.5 to 21 (but 23 for this year) will be recruited to the armed forces for just four years without pension or ex-servicemen status, with only one-fourth of them retained for another 15 years on regular service terms.

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