No Space For Arson, Vandalism In Military, Coaching Centres Pushing Aspirants: Army On Agnipath Protests

Lieutenant General Anil Puri, Additional Secretary in the Department of Military Affairs, said that all Agniveers would be asked to certify they have not indulged in any violence in the ongoing protests at the time of joining.

Speaking at a tri-services press conference, he further highlighted that all recruits go through police verification and people named in police FIRs would anyway not be cleared in the verification.

Of coaching centres, he said, "They [people running centres] have taken money from these children. Who are these children? I have said 70 per cent are from villages. They have got there after taking loans. They are studying and they are being given hope by people running coaching institutes. Who is sending them on the streets? They [people running coaching centres] have a big role."

Lt Gen Puri urged people to not indulge in protests. He urged them?to?prepare for physical tests for upcoming recruitment.

Besides this, the armed forces also gave a timeline for upcoming recruitment under the Agnipath scheme.?

The Indian Army said 83 recruitment rallies under Agnipath scheme will take place across India in August, September, and October?for around 40,000 Agniveers. The draft notification would be issued on Monday.

The Indian Air Force said registration process under Agnipath scheme would start on June 24 and online exam process would start on July 24.?

The Indian Navy said the force would also come up with details in June. In a landmark move, the Navy said it would recruit women sailors as well. They?would also be deployed on off-shore vessels.

Vice Admiral DK Tripathi said, "It's time to recruit women sailors in every trade, including those who'd go to sea. We are working on numbers [of women sailors], kind of ships, and how ready our training facilities are."

Lt Gen Puri also said there will be no roll back of Agnipath scheme.

(With PTI inputs)