Opposition to push for discussion on Agnipath in parliament next week

(Image: Rajya Sabha)

The Opposition is likely to demand a discussion on the Agnipath defense recruitment scheme in Parliament next week after the debate on price rise is taken up in both the Houses, sources said Sunday.

A discussion on price rise has been listed in the Lok Sabha for Monday and in the Rajya Sabha the next day.

Opposition leaders said while there is a consensus among them about the need for a discussion on Agnipath, which had sparked widespread violence across the country, they have varied stands on the subject.

With barely 10 working days remaining before the Monsoon Session gets over on August 12, it is unlikely the parties would be able to extract a debate on the new armed forces recruitment scheme in either House. ''We will raise the issue in Parliament, however, there is very little time to force a discussion on it as the session is ending on August 12, and in between, there is a weekend, the vice presidential election as well as the farewell for (outgoing vice president) Venkaiah Naidu,'' said an opposition leader.

Also, some leaders said the parties have also different stands on the issue with those based in the northern region demanding a complete withdrawal of the scheme, while some like the TMC asking that state governments be freed of the liability to provide jobs for the Agniveers.

Congress leaders such as Rajya Sabha MP from Haryana Deepender Singh Hooda have demanded a complete rollback. Sources said the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Samajwadi Party, and Congress have already filed notices demanding a discussion on Agnipath in both Houses. Three notices are likely to be filed on Monday.

Opposition leaders have indicated the government has conveyed to them informally that they have no plans of accommodating their request on Agnipath as the matter is sub-judice. The government has also listed two bills -- The Central Universities(Amendment) Bill, 2022 to be introduced, and The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2021 to be passed in the Lok Sabha.

In the Rajya Sabha too two Bills will come up for consideration and passing on Monday -- the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act, 2005; and a Bill to provide for the national measures for protecting the Antarctic environment and dependent and associated ecosystems and to give effect to the Antarctic Treaty, the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources and the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. Both these Bills have been passed by the Lok Sabha.