How business interests of coaching centres influence agitations?

In the protests that broke out following the announcement of Agnipath, the police have found that some coaching centres had instigated the rioters who caused widespread damage

New Delhi, Jun 21: There has been widespread violence and arson following the announcement of the Agnipath Scheme. Trains, trucks and buses have been burnt resulting in huge losses to public property.

Violent incidents were reported in Bihar, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh and scanner is now on the coaching centres. The question being raised is whether the military recruitment scheme, Agnipath would put many coaching centres out of business.

Officials on condition of anonymity tell OneIndia that this could be one of the reasons why the protests may have been staged.

The protests broke out in Bihar and this could be to do with the fact that there are many coaching centres in the state where the youth undergo physical training and written tuitions for the Armed Forces.

The police have managed to get videos which clearly show owners of coaching centres instigating the youth to indulge in violence. Dr. Sandeep Shastri, Vice Chancellor, Jagran Lakecity University and National Coordinator, Lokniti Network says whenever there is a government decision there is a debate on whether it is right or wrong. However in public domain there are certain interests which could be termed as vested who make use of the situation to try and convert personal goals into public goals and present what it their own private interest in the language of public interest.

At the end of the day, coming together of so many purposes which are joining in for their own reasons such as apprehensions or visible threat to the work that you do in terms of profits. When this is affected it becomes a public movement thus making it difficult to define what has actually triggered off the action which is under no circumstance warranted, Dr. Shastri says.

The Bihar police has pointed to the role of three coaching centres in the violence. In Telangana the police found that one Avula Subba Rao instigated the youth to protest against Agnipath. He is alleged to have created a WhatsApp group called Hakimpet Army Soldiers in which he sent messages to all of them to take part in the agitation at the Secunderabad Railway Station.

In Uttar Pradesh nine operators of coaching centres in Aligarh had been arrested for their role in the violence. The police said that owners and managers of these coaching centres circulated messages on chat groups and social media to provoke and instigate the youth. This eventually led to the violence the police learnt.

Another official points out that there is a thin line between service on profit and all these institutions claim that they have a service motive. If their advertisements are to be believed they would be knights in shining armour.

When you read what is beneath the surface when you read in-between the lines of their claims, then you notice something deeper than that. When you scratch the surface deeper and deeper you notice that is often a mask for tapping public sentiment to make a fast buck, the official cited above also says.

The official goes on to explain that these coaching centres thrive and have become so powerful because there is a need for employment and a craze to get into government jobs. Parents want to get their children into certain education irrespective of whether the child is inclined or not. In such a scenario it becomes easy to convince the people to seek the support of such centres.

On the Agnipath scheme, Dr. Shastri says that we do not have all the facts and figures. However it is clear that there is a strong economics to the whole decision. There have been discussions on pension payment for long. There was less expenditure on procuring equipment than paying pensions. It was a matter of alarm for the government on to how to deal with pension payment, Dr. Shastri also adds.

While none of us are disputing the contribution of the defence personnel, there is also a question on how the government would manage its finances with the ever expanding pension pay outs.

However Dr. Shastri points out that the entire issue could have been conveyed better. When you do not calibrate the communication it allows vested interests to take advantage of the situation, he further adds.