Agniveer scheme brought after lot of thought: Rajnath's reply to Rahul

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh rebutted Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's claims in the Lok Sabha on the Agnipath military recruitment scheme on Monday, saying it was rolled out after taking suggestions from 158 organisations.

Singh, who intervened when Gandhi was speaking on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address, also said that an Agniveer who lays down his life in the line of duty gets a compensation of Rs 1 crore.

The Union minister asked Gandhi not to mislead Parliament and also requested Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to expunge the former Congress president's claims on the Agnipath scheme.

Referring to the military recruitment scheme, Gandhi claimed that the government regards the Agniveers as "use-and-throw labourers" and does not even give them the status of a "shaheed (martyr)".

Intervening, the defence minister said, "I would like to humbly request the leader of the opposition not to try to mislead Parliament. Regarding the Agniveer scheme, direct communication wa