Overview
- On Thursday, Nov 5, Bhupinder Singh Hooda publicly demanded that Agniveers be made regular soldiers without conditions and called the government's two-year extension an insult to their dignity.
- Hooda said the Congress opposed the Agnipath recruitment scheme from the start and noted that several former Army officers had raised objections before the government announced new provisions.
- He argued that soldiers who have completed six years of service need no additional criteria for permanent recruitment and that they should receive full service tenure, regular pay, allowances and pension.
- Hooda linked the Agniveers demand to the wider issue of contractual staff by urging immediate regularisation of guest teachers and accusing the BJP of breaking its 2014 promise to those families.
- The demand raises political and legal pressure on the government by spotlighting court-backed regularisation policy for contract workers and by making workforce dignity and long-term benefits central to the debate.