LUCKNOW:  Massive protests against the Central government's 'Agnipath' recruitment scheme erupted in certain Uttar Pradesh districts on Thursday.

Students in Bulandshahr blocked the GT road and shouted slogans demanding that the policy that allows for short-term military recruiting be scrapped.

The demonstrators were resistant to the district officials' attempts to persuade them to lift the roadblock. A memorandum was submitted to the district magistrate by the demonstrators.

The rallies in Gonda were led by students who brandished placards and chanted anti-scheme slogans. Similarly, in Unnao, students and unemployed youngsters protested, demanding that conventional recruitment methods be used instead of short-term contracts.

Earlier, the president of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Mayawati, slammed the central government's new 'Agnipath' scheme for recruiting soldiers, calling it "unfair to the rural youth." 

The Agnipath programme is a method of recruiting soldiers for the Army, Navy, and Air Force on a four-year contract basis. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced the plan on Tuesday.

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