SUMAN K SHRIVASTAVA
Ranchi, June 18: Amid arson and protests in several states across the country over Agnipath recruitment scheme, particularly in neighbouring Bihar, Jharkhand has remained calm with the youth of the state staying away from any kind of violence.
The Jharkhand youth, though, have lodged protests against the new army recruitment scheme at various places, including Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad and Daltonganj, but thankfully they have not indulged in burning the trains and other public properties.
Besides Jharkhand, Punjab, often referred to as the sword army of the nation, which has the second highest number of soldiers, other than officers, serving in the Army amongst all states and union territories in the country, has also maintained calm.
Jharkhand contributes a fair number of youth, who comprise mainly tribals to the Indian Army, but it does not happen to be among the top contributors to the military. It contributed 1648 army personnel during 2018-19 and 2019-20.
On the other hand, Haryana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, which are among the top contributors to the military, have been rocked by protests. During 2018-20, Bihar contributed 6758 soldiers, UP 14747, Haryana 8307, and Rajasthan sent 11059 armymen.
Besides, Himachal Pradesh has the highest per capita recruitment with 420 recruits/1 Million population between the years 2017 to 2019, while the figure is the lowest for Goa with 4 recruits/1 Million Population.
Vacancies in the rank and file are allotted to the state on the basis of their respective population. In case a state fails to fill up the allotted vacancies, these can then be filled from other states.
The Jharkhand police alongwith the Railway Protection Force (RPF) is also on alert mode. “We have taken adequate precautions and deployed forces at vulnerable locations, including the State BJP headquarters,” said a top police official.
The senior Railway officials are also on their toes to regulate the traffic and dissuade the protesters from damaging the railway properties.
On Friday, the RPF foiled the attempt of some 700 strong protesters to enter the Ranchi railway station. A day before, the Chakradharpur DRM alongwith State’s Rural Development Secretary Manish Ranjan became successful in persuading the protesters not to indulge in any unruly incident.
Ranjan, who had been earlier posted as Divisional Commission in Chaibasa, said that instead of stopping them moving ahead, they were asked to form a delegation of 10 students and submit a memo to the DC. “They accepted it apparently to find that there is someone where they can air their grievances,” he added.
There could be another reason too, said a senior police officer. Compared to army aspirants in Bihar and UP, the army aspirants in Jharkhand are not much aware about the critical implications of the new scheme. “While the youths in Bihar could immediately figure out the positives and negatives of the Agnipath, the Jharkhand boys are not that much aware,” he added.
Also, the Opposition parties, particularly their youth wings which added fuel to the fire in other states, are also not so vociferous in Jharkhand. The JMM yesterday criticized the policy, but appealed to the youth to shun violence. “The reason might be that they are under fire for their corrupt practices and demoralized,” said a political watcher.
The BJP initially feared that the Congress-JMM might make it an issue in the by-election being held in Mandar constituency, which is not far from the State capital, and sends a good number of tribal youth to the army. “But we don’t see any protests from youth and army aspirants during our campaign,” pointed out a BJP leader.
