Anurag Thakur slams AAP for spreading rumours about caste, religion certificates in Agnipath scheme

New Delhi [India], July 19 (ANI): Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Tuesday slammed allegations by Aam Aadmi Party and the opposition that candidates under the Agnipath defence recruitment were being asked to submit caste and religion certificates and said that all recruitments were done as per Army Rules 1954 and Defence Service Regulation 1987.
The I&B minister also cautioned the AAP against misleading and spreading lies.
"Recruitment is done under Army rule 1954 and defence services regulations 1987 and the process is still on. But some political parties like the AAP mislead the general masses and spread lies and establish new dimensions of lies. Without knowing the truth they misled the youth and spread lies," the I&B minister told ANI.
Thakur also highlighted that the opposition also had cast doubts on the Centre's surgical strike and said that the Opposition's propaganda has been exposed.
"These are the same people who raised questions on surgical strike, there's no change, the information that they used to seek earlier is still being used. Lakhs of young candidates have applied to be Agniveers, this exposes the Opposition's propaganda, especially AAP's web of lies.AAP does politics based on lies," he added.
Thakur also stressed that the opposition either lacked complete details about the recruitment process or considers doing politics above national security.
"Indian youth is ever ready to join the defence forces and sacrifice for the motherland. Now also lakhs of applications have been received which shows that the youth is ready to become Agniveers. However, political parties are spreading lies and resorting to politics on the basis of caste, probably lack information on the issue or they consider politics above national security," he said.
As the recruitment under the Agnipath scheme began across various states in the country, various opposition parties on Tuesday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for having caste and religion section under the documents required during the recruitment of Agniveers.
The Agnipath Scheme approved by the Union cabinet on June 14 was launched in an effort to bring a change in the recruitment process of the Armed Forces. The Agnipath scheme has been designed to enable a youthful profile of the Armed Forces. It will provide an opportunity to the youth who may be keen to don the uniform by attracting young talent from the society who are more in tune with contemporary technological trends and plough back skilled, disciplined and motivated manpower into the society. (ANI)