LUCKNOW : The Agnipath scheme will be cancelled “as soon as we come to power,” Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said on Saturday, a day after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced reservation for retired Agniveers.

While campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections, Yadav had repeatedly promised to scrap the short-term military recruitment scheme if the INDIA bloc, of which the Samajwadi Party is a constituent, came to power.

In a post on X, Yadav said, “As soon as we come to power, the short-term ‘Agniveer’ military recruitment that compromises the security of the country and plays with the future of the soldiers will be cancelled within 24 hours.”

“This is our demand on ‘Agniveer’. The old recruitment (model) should be reinstated,” he said in Hindi.  Adityanath on Friday said the Uttar Pradesh government would grant weightage to Agniveers who returned from service for recruitment in the police and the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC).

The Centre in 2022 unveiled the Agnipath scheme for the recruitment of youths aged between 17-and-a-half and 21 in the Army, Navy and the Air Force, largely on a four-year contractual basis. Those recruited under the scheme will be known as Agniveers.

After completion of their four-year tenure, 25 per cent of the recruits from each batch will be offered regular service. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs had announced that 10 per cent vacancies for recruitment in the Central Armed Police Forces or the paramilitary forces would be reserved for ex-Agniveers.

Several state governments also made similar announcements for recruitment of retired Agniveers in their respective police forces.