Excerpts of former Congress President Shri Rahul Gandhi’s address to the youth in New Delhi on May 4, 2024, and highlights of his interaction with them.

‘Namaskar’! You all are very welcome here. Right at the outset, I want to say that we have clearly written in our Manifesto that we will scrap the ‘Agniveer’ scheme. You are clapping at the moment, but you have already lost a lot. You have been harmed in a way because you had a dream of joining the army, the dream was of patriotism, which has not been fulfilled yet. I think that the one lakh fifty thousand youth who completed the entire process of the army, devoted years of their life, ran long distances, weight trained themselves, increased their strength, they should get some compensation, some way or the other. So, we should try to find a way for them. Now what that way be will be analyzed after we come into power in government. The ‘Agniveer’ scheme is not actually a plan of the Indian Army. When we ran a little deeper, we got to know that this plan was not accepted by the army people. When demonetization happened, the Finance Minister was not asked, RBI was not asked, it was simply bypassed, the entire system was bypassed, similarly, in making ‘Agniveer’, the entire system was bypassed. This decision was taken in the Prime Minister’s office, the NSA took the decision, the National Security Advisor took the decision, no part of the army was involved in discussion about this. This Scheme is completely wrong. The second mistake is that you implemented this scheme, but you never asked the people for whom you are bringing this scheme, nor did you ask the Army, nor did you ask the Defense Establishment of India. Meaning, you bypassed the entire system.

Elections are going on now and the Constitution is being attacked. Dalits constitute 15 percent of India’s population. 8 percent of the population is tribals. Do you know - how many backward class’ people are there in India? No one knows this figure but it is a gigantic problem, because Dalits and tribals still know theirs, but the largest class of India, which builds and runs this country, does not know its population!

You look at the national media, the national media creates the entire narrative. You are not seeing anything about ‘Agniveer’ in the media, right? One lakh fifty thousand youth suffered loss, but it is not discussed anywhere. Do you know why? Because the media is not yours. There is neither a Dalit, nor a tribal, nor a backward class’ person, nor a poor general caste person in the media, there is a media of two-three percent and whatever the big billionaires of India want, only that, finds its way into the media. So you have no participation in the media, hence no one hears your voice in the media.

Look at Corporate India, the 200 largest companies, where you will probably try to find a job. Among them you will not find anyone from backward class, or Dalit, or tribal, or poor general caste. Billions of rupees are given to them. Their loan of Rs. 16 lakh crores has been waived off. You pay GST, right? You are wearing this shirt. How much did you buy it for? Who pays more GST - Adani or you? Both of you give the same GST. If he buys a shirt, he will also pay 28 percent GST.

Have you ever had your loan waived off? Never. Has your father’s loan been waived off? Has any of your relatives’ loan been waived off? No. Rs. 16 lakh crore of Adani ji and 22 billionaires of the country have been waived off. 16 lakh crore means allocation of MNREGA funds for 24 years. Now I am asking the question that if their loans to billionaires can be waived off, then the youth who are standing in line for ‘Agniveer’, standing in line to join the army or for education? Those studying in college-university, why are their loans not being waived off? Meaning, what is the fault of the backward class, what have you done? Your participation is nowhere. You are neither in media, nor in corporate India, nor do you run schools-colleges, nor do you run governments. They give you phone, you guys use Instagram, you guys are on Instagram, watching reels. Money is not being made by watching reels, rather it is being spent. So, this is the main issue in India that what is the participation of these 90 percent people, if the loans are being waived, then how much is being done for the 90 percent. The Indian government is run by 90 officers. Narendra Modi ji just signs, those people are in the Finance Ministry, Defense Ministry, they have taken the decision of ‘Agniveer’.

Narendra Modi ji took the decision on ‘Agniveer’. He made its entire structure as to how much money ‘Agniveer’ would get and for how many years he would be appointed. There are 90 secretaries in the Central Government, out of which only three secretaries are from backward classes and they have been given a backseat while placed in some small department. There is no secretary from the backward class in the Finance Ministry, nor in the Defense Ministry, nor in any of the big ministries. There are three Dalit, three OBC and one tribal – total secretaries - in the Central Government and if you look at the budget, if the Government of India spends Rs. 100, then those secretaries who belong to 90 percent of the population take a decision of only six rupees ten paise! Earlier there used to be public sector, there used to be army, all these avenues are being closed. Earlier, OBC, Dalit, poor general caste used to get jobs in public sector. They could join army, get pension. What is ‘Agniveer’, the meaning of ‘Agniveer’ is that we do not want to give pension to the poor people, we do not want to give them the status of martyr, we do not want to provide them canteen facilities. But those who are young, who are ready to become martyrs, are of two types. An ‘Agniveer’ – If he gets shot, we will tell him that brother, you are not a martyr at all, you will not get anything, you die, we do not care.

So, you think - there will be a war with China, an ‘Agniveer’ and a normal soldier will be fighting. What will ‘Agniveer’ think - ‘Agniveer’ will think that if anything happens to me, no one will take care of my family and if anything happens to the regular soldiers, they will be fully protected, they will get pension, their families will be protected. So, you destroyed the morale of the army right there and you created division in the army. So that’s why we are going to end ‘Agniveer’ and I want you to think a little politically, get politically active. You are among the 90 percent, you have power, recognize your power. I was shocked that it was decided to reinstate one lakh fifty thousand youth in the army and then they were thrown out. But let me tell you the truth – your voice was not as much as it should have been, this is the truth.

The reason for that is - the media is also against you, corporate India is also against you, the government is threatening you, the regime is threatening you, taking photos, saying that you will not get a job. But there is a lot of strength among one lakh fifty thousand people and there is true fire of patriotism within you and the media is calling you and the farmers ‘terrorists’. So that’s why I want us to work together and if we can help you, make a path for you in the Army, then we will do our best to make a path for you. Now if you have any questions I will happily answer them.

On one question, we practiced for three to four years, the recruitment was also cancelled, when I protested, I was put in jail, now I am over-age, what should I do now, where should I go? Shri Rahul Gandhi said that we have brought a new plan in our Manifesto. Perhaps it has been made only for youth like you. We call that ‘first job confirmed’. Under MNREGA, you get the right to employment and the government gives you the right to work as a labourer. Now we are going to give the right to the first job to the youth of India. So how will it happen, graduates, college-university students and diploma holders in India will get this right.

You will get one-year guaranteed job in public sector, private sector, government offices, government hospitals, government colleges-universities, Rs. 8,500 per month, Rs. 1 lakh per year will go into your bank account, this is the path of apprenticeship. In a way, we are going to give this right to all the unemployed youth of India, one year job-cum-training. So, through this apprenticeship, you will get entry into the job market.

Like these big businessmen, they give jobs to their children in their companies, they call it ‘apprenticeship’. There is training for six months, job for one year. So similarly, we are giving the same facility to every unemployed youth of India that if you ask for a job from the government for one year, the government will have to give it to you, the government will not be able to refuse. That job will be available in private sector, public sector and different institutions. Rs. 1 lakh per year in your bank account. Then your training and after that if you do good work then you will get that permanent job there, so this is an idea of the Congress Party.

So, the whole system will have to change a bit. The doors of banks will have to be opened for small companies, for small manufacturers, for people like you, entrepreneurs. That will be a bit of a long task, but as soon as the government comes to power, we are going to give you all the right to apprenticeship, so this is our thinking.

On another question that the government is deliberately reducing the vacancy so that they do not have to give reservation, when your government comes, will you work on this or not? Shri Gandhi said that in the beginning I said that the people who constitute 90 percent of the population – Dalits, tribals, backward class people, do not even know what their population is. They don’t even know how many are there in corporate India, how many are there in different companies.

So you don’t even know about your participation, how much of India’s wealth is in your hands.

So, we are going to conduct ‘Caste Census’. ‘Caste Census’ means they will come to know that there are these many people of OBC category in the press, these many people in corporate India, these many in the judiciary, these many in the army, what is our participation, that too will be known and where our people are sitting, how many are they, that too will be known, which means – everything will be crystal clear. What is happening these days – you are being fooled. You are being misled and allured with hollow promises.

So this is our thinking, ‘Caste Census’ is the first step and there will not be just ‘Caste Census’, there will be economic survey.

On another question, how can Congress help us in completing the recruitment of 1.5 lakh youth who have not got joining? Shri Gandhi said that we will try our best to give some compensation to 1,50,000 youth.

On another question, the student union elections have been stopped in universities in the last few years, then in what way will the participation of youth in politics increase? Shri Gandhi said that I think that there should be elections in the university, there should be politics and my thinking is that they have stopped politics in the university because 90 percent of our backward class people are Dalits. They are tribals, poor general caste people, they should not able to enter politics aggressively. So we will end this altogether.

On another question, how will one begin to give the same amount of space in active politics to the person who has his share? Shri Gandhi said that the one who has a hold, now if he is an OBC, if he does not have a hold then it means nothing. The one who has hold, the one who is grounded should be promoted in the Party. This time, if you look at our tickets, we have given tickets to more OBC and tribal people than before, we also give tickets to Dalits, so it is our effort, but I think it is our effort to give tickets to the people of the new generation. You people should come and we are absolutely ready to make space for you people, we are waiting for people like you to come and we will definitely promote you in the Congress Party.

On another question, when your government is formed, will the issue of paper leak and recruitment rigging in Uttar Pradesh be closed or not? Shri Gandhi said that we have written in the Manifesto that we will bring a new law. We are doing two things in paper leak, one will bring a new law, there will be a strict law, we will take strong action against whoever does this and second - this new trend has come that private companies are taking exams, so we will stop it and the public exams will be taken only by the government. We have two views on this. If you have any suggestions, we can include them as well.

On another question, if your government comes in the future, what are your plans for ‘Agniveer’ women and the recruitment of women in the army? Shri Gandhi said that see, for ‘Agniveer’ we have written in our Manifesto that ‘Agniveer’ will be scrapped. If our government comes, then we will re-implement the permanent system and pension system in the army. As far as women are concerned, it is the decision of the Army, but my personal opinion is that women should also get entry into the Army, should get a place, but in the end it is the decision of the Army and it should be decided by the Army – like where, in what manner and how many women can they incorporate? But I want that more and more women should get a place in the Army, Air Force and Navy.

On another question, there are only three percent women in commando recruitment because there is a mentality in the society that they are not physically strong to move ahead, so what is your opinion regarding this thing? Shri Gandhi said that nowadays with modern weaponry, physical ability does not matter so much. Any women can work with modern weaponry, meaning it doesn’t matter whether you fired a rifle or I fired a rifle. What matters is that if a rifle is fired, a person aimed at will die. So I do not accept that women cannot do this work. Women can become commandos, can do everything. So we will create avenues and we will talk to the army and para-military and try to get more and more women to join the army and special forces. Women have some sensitivities, we have written in the Manifesto. But the decision in this matter lies with the Army, but we would definitely suggest them to give place to as many women as possible.

On another question, the way Muslim youth and women are being discriminated against in institutions, then what is the framework of Congress for Muslims? Shri Rahul Gandhi said that see, our framework is the Constitution of India, democracy and it is clearly written in the Constitution that all the citizens of India are equal, no one is less, no one is more; There is no less religion, no less caste, no less language, so there is no discrimination forus. We know that the ideology of BJP is completely different from our ideology. We are fighting their ideology and we want that there should be space for everyone in India, everyone should be respected, everyone should love and respect one another.

On another question that through ‘Agniveer’ the government made contract recruits in the army, Shri Rahul Gandhi said that see, ‘Agniveer’ is the same as contract labour. There is a contractual system in the Army and we do not want there to be a contractual system in the Army. So, we will scrap ‘Agniveer’. There is one more thing in this, ‘Agniveer’ is actually weakening the army, and we will change it. When our government comes, we will change it 100 percent.

On another question, since the launch of ‘Agniveer’ scheme, the youth are very depressed and many people are even taking their own lives, so what to do about it? Shri Rahul Gandhi said that he will scrap ‘Agniveer’ for sure.

Shri Rahul Gandhi said- I thank you very much from the bottom of my heart for coming and it will be our endeavor to help the 1 lakh 50 thousand youth and open the way for them. Thanks, Jai Hind!