Trains were set on fire as thousands of people joined protests in India against the new recruitment system.
Police used batons and tear gas to stop protests in the states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan after young people took to the streets and damaged government buildings.
In Bihar, the worst-affected area in the east of the country, nearly 25,000 police were deployed after protests spread to dozens of towns in eight districts.
Protesters blocked roads and attacked railway property, as trains were about to disembark, tracks were damaged and a station was vandalized.
In addition, an office of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was set on fire in Nawada, the state.
The government is planning a new employment program that will allow the armed forces to recruit 46,000 men and women between the ages of 17 and a half to 21 at non-officer level but for only four years.
After that, only 25% of them will be kept, and the remaining 75% will not receive retirement benefits.
In the past, soldiers were recruited separately by the army, navy and air force and typically served up to 17 years in the lowest ranks.
The shorter tenure has worried potential recruits.
Bihar is the worst affected state
“Where are we going after only working for four years?” said a young man, surrounded by protesters in the Jehanabad district of Bihar. “We’ll be homeless after four years of service. So we’ve blocked the roads.”
However, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh defended the plans, saying they were intended to “strengthen the security of the country”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government are facing pressure to create jobs in India as the economy recovers from the pandemic.
One idea behind military recruitment is that those trained in the force can later seek employment in the private sector or work with the police.
The government, which will face a general election in 2024, has been criticized by some retired military personnel and opposition leaders.
“I think initially this is a test being done on a pilot basis,” GD Bakshi, a retired army general, wrote on Twitter.
“This is a comprehensive shift aimed at transforming the Indian armed forces into a short-term semi-conscription force.”
Protesters in Jehanabad
The leader of the opposition Congress Party, Rahul Gandhi, urged the government to “listen to the voices of unemployed youth in the district”.
In the central Indian city of Gwalior, a railway station was ransacked and several trains vandalized and crates burned.
According to local media, in the town of Rewari, north of the town of Rewari, police used wooden sticks to disperse the protesters.
A crowd gathered in the Bulandshahr and Ballia districts of Uttar Pradesh state but dispersed after officials assured them their request would be forwarded to the authorities.
