Bharat Bandh: Over 500 trains hit, platform tickets restricted

New Delhi, Jun 20: As many as 500 trains have been canceled today amid the Bharat Bandh over the center's Agnipath scheme, which provides for short-term recruitment into the armed forces.

While 539 trains were affected, 529 trains were canceled, including 181 mail/express trains and 348 passengers trains, the Railways said in a statement. The Railways also partially canceled four mail/express trains.

In view of the proposed Bharat Bandh and to safeguard the safety of passengers, the issue of Platform tickets is restricted at all Railway stations over Chennai division of Southern Railway, until further orders.

The railways have suffered a huge loss of property due to arson and rioting by the protesters over the last five days.

Security has been beefed up in several states on Monday amid protests against the Centre's new Agnipath recruitment scheme.

After the policy, which allows Indian youths to serve in the regular cadre of the Armed Forces for a period of four years, was announced on June 14, protests erupted in various states including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,

Haryana, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Jharkhand and Assam.

As the agitation intensified in some places, protestors went on the rampage setting trains on fire, torching vehicles and damaging both private and public properties.Congress will also hold "peaceful" protests across the country on Monday against the "anti-youth" Agnipath recruitment scheme.

A total of 46,000 Agniveers will be recruited this year but a top military officer said it will go up to 1.25 lakhs in near future.

The entry age for all new recruits in the Armed Forces has been fixed as 17.5 to 21 years of age.

However, following protests, the Central government announced an increase in the upper age limit for the recruitment of Agniveers from 21 years to 23 years for the recruitment cycle of 2022 as it has not been possible to undertake the recruitment during the last two years.