Published 17:19 IST, October 2nd 2024
If Nazi Propagandist Goebbels Were Alive, He'd Have Felt Ashamed: Rajnath on Cong's Agniveer Stand
Rajnath Singh launched a pincer attack on Rahul Gandhi and Congress for 'spreading propaganda' against the Agniveer scheme.
New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh , on Wednesday, launched a pincer attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party for 'spreading propaganda' against the central government's Agniveer scheme.
Taking to X, Singh in a detailed post, accused Gandhi of misleading people about the scheme. He wrote, " Congress leader Mr Rahul Gandhi is trying to mislead people on Agniveer. The need for new and enthusiastic soldiers in the Indian Army has been felt for a long time. Different countries like America, Britain, France, Russia, Israel, and China have different provisions for short-term engagement i.e. recruitment of soldiers for a short period of time in the Armed Forces.
This Agneepath scheme was started after the consent of all the branches of the armed forces in India. Congress leaders are spreading lies across the country that Agniveers will have to wander from door to door for income after leaving the service. The truth is that every Agniveer is also given a one-time Seva Nidhi package after the engagement period of four years, which is around 12 lakhs and this amount is completely income tax-free.
Out of all the Agniveers who are being inducted into the army, 25% of them will continue in the army as regulars on the basis of merit. For the remaining Agniveers, many state governments like Haryana , Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan , Odisha , Assam , Madhya Pradesh , Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh , Arunachal Pradesh , Gujarat and Goa have clearly announced reservations in government jobs.
There is provision for reservation for Agniveers in public sector undertakings, paramilitary forces and many other areas.
This time for the Agniveers of Haryana , BJP has made it clear in its manifesto that every Agniveer will be given a government job and it is clear that Agniveer is like a family of all of us.
I want to make it clear that the Congress leaders have spread a big lie across the country that if an Agniveer dies while serving in the armed forces, his family does not get anything. I have never seen a bigger example of a blatant lie in my life.
If any Agniveer unfortunately dies in Active Military Service, then a provision has been made to give an amount of more than one and a half crore rupees to his family. Not only this, about 12 lakh rupees will be given under the Seva Nidhi package and in addition to this, there is an Ex-Gratia payment of 44 lakh rupees in addition to this, 48 lakh will be paid through the bank in which no premium will have to be paid.
Apart from this, the government has also signed an MoU with different banks under which insurance compensation of Rs. 50 lakh to Rs. 1 crore is given. Agniveers do not have to pay a premium for this insurance as well. The Government of India covers the risk and pays the insurance amount from its public fund.
Seeing the way Rahul Gandhi and Congress have spread propaganda regarding Agniveer Yojana, I think that if Hitler's propaganda minister Goebbels were alive today, he would have felt ashamed.
Today, on Gandhi Jayanti, I assure every resident of Haryana as well as every citizen of India that no injustice of any kind will be allowed to happen to any Agniveer or soldier."
Updated 17:26 IST, October 2nd 2024