West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday urged the Center to raise the retirement age of soldiers recruited under the Agneepath scheme to 65 years, saying they would see an uncertain future at the end of their four-year term.
Mamata Banerjee also said that the BJP-led central government launched the new defense recruitment scheme keeping in mind the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
He said, “My aim is to create more and more jobs unlike the BJP. They are training people for four months and recruiting them for four years. What will these soldiers do after four years… What will their luck?” Will… that is uncertain.” ,
“We demand that the retirement age be raised to 65 years (under the Agneepath scheme),” Banerjee said at an event here.
It envisages recruitment of armed forces youth in the age group of 17 साढ़े to 21 years only for four years, with a provision to retain 25 per cent of the youth for 15 more years. For 2022, the upper age limit has been increased to 23 years.
Banerjee had earlier claimed that the BJP was using the scheme to build its armed cadre base.