BSP chief Mayawati said Sunday the center’s new military recruitment program, Agnipath, has left the country’s youth “disappointed” and “desperate”. “At a time when a handful of people are excluded, a large majority of the country’s population, particularly the youth, are being forced to walk the ‘Agnipath’ (path of fire) of poverty, inflation, unemployment and tensions, the ‘ ‘Shorting out’ the center Agnipath’s military recruitment program has left them disappointed and desperate,” she said in a series of Hindi tweets.

“It is as a result of reduced numbers and opportunities for recruitment to the railways, army and paramilitary forces that village youth feel helpless and betrayed. Their anger boils as they stare into a dark future. The situation should be handled properly,” she said.

Her comments come after violent protests against the new military recruiting program erupted in many states and opposition parties increased pressure on the Union government to roll it back.

The BSP leader also urged the center to reconsider its decision and appealed to protesting youth to exercise restraint.

Unveiling the Agnipath program on Tuesday, the government said youth between the ages of 17.5 and 21 would be hired for a four-year term, while 25 percent of them would subsequently be hired for regular service.

The young people to be hired under the new program would be called “Agniveer”. A key goal of the program is to lower the average age of military personnel and help stem soaring payroll and pension bills.

The announcement of the new program came as military recruitment had stalled for over two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.