Lucknow, June 21: In the aftermath of the initiative’s unveiling, Uttar Pradesh is enlisting the services of district army welfare boards and ex-servicemen to conduct “massive public outreach” to educate defence hopefuls about the Agnipath recruiting scheme, according to a senior police officer.
“Following CM Yogi Adityanath’s directives, the police and administration are conducting massive public outreach, and we have gotten in touch with army welfare boards, taking them on board, while cooperation from ex-servicemen is also being sought,” said ADG (law and Order) Prashant Kumar.
“Coaching centre proprietors who are detected encouraging their students to protest will be arrested. The administration has also specifically selected locations where there is a high rate of recruitment to the defence forces, and ex-servicemen and local authorities are spreading awareness among the prospective Army hopefuls,” Kumar explained.
Commander Pranay Rawat, an ex-serviceman and district army welfare officer in Agra, claimed a recent gathering of ‘Sainik Bandhus,’ volunteers working with army welfare organisations, had been summoned to travel into their various districts and “dispel myths” about the plan.
Commander Ravinder Singh Tevatia, the district army welfare officer of Ballia, further stated that an emergency meeting of ex-servicemen had been held to help achieve the goal and to dissuade the young from participating in violence, following the torching of a railway bogie and stone pelting last week. According to Tevatia, the district has around 13,000 ex-servicemen.
Meanwhile, the owners and operators of army recruitment tutoring centres throughout Uttar Pradesh are being investigated after 11 coaching centre operators in Aligarh were detained for allegedly inciting students to engage in violent protests against the Agnipath military recruiting scheme.
According to an estimate, the state has over 2200 coaching centres for army and other recruitments. Aligarh senior superintendent of police (SSP) Kalanidhi Naithani stated that the police initiated a crackdown on coaching centres after their involvement in instigating students was found during large-scale anti-Agnipath rallies in the Tappal region of Aligarh district on June 17.
He stated that the operators of nine coaching centres, primarily in the Tappal region of Aligarh district, had been detained in connection with arson, vandalism, and stone-pelting incidents recorded there. (Two more were apprehended afterwards.) After an appeal by Agra senior superintendent of police Sudhir Kumar Singh, coaching centres remained shut in Agra. According to the SSP, an appeal was made to coaching centres, especially in New Agra, to remain closed for a few days following the anti-Agnipath rallies.
“The coaching centres honoured the request and closed for a few days,” he stated. A. Satish Ganesh, commissioner of police in Varanasi, stated that the police issued notifications to all coaching operators and requested them to preserve calm while also appealing to them to pacify youngsters by outlining the benefits of the Agnipath initiative. He stated that Varanasi had eight army recruiting academies (coaching centres that guide Army aspirant youngsters).
The coaching centre operators had been given strict orders not to participate in any protests or violence. They have been informed that if violence is reported anywhere, their responsibility will be fixed, he continued.
