Ex-servicemen stage a dharna in New Delhi - Tribune News Service

Indian Military Veterans

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 1

Ex-servicemen stage a dharna in New Delhi on Sunday. Tribune photo: Manas Ranjan Bhui

Finally there is good news for more than 20 lakh retired veterans of the Armed Forces. An assurance to implement the one rank-one pension (OROP) was given to the veterans by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar here. The veterans had organized a rally at Jantar Mantar to protest against the non-implementation of the OROP.

The defence minister, who invited a delegation of veterans, assured them of the positive outcome on four key issues, including getting all sanctions before the Budget is presented on February 28.

Chief of the Indian Army General Dalbir Singh Suhag was present at the meeting which was held at Kota House as thousands of veterans sat in protest.aj General Satbir Singh (retd), chairman of the Indian Ex—Servicemen Movement (IESM), made a formal announcement to this effect at the rally. The announcement was greeted with applause.

He said the defence minister gave an assurance to the 27-member delegation of veterans on the following points: The OROP will be as per the Parliament sanction on December 2011; it will come in effect from April 1, 2014; the defence minister will complete all formalities at the level of the Ministry of Defence by February 17 to send the file to the financé ministry and lastly a sanction will be taken before the Budget is presented on February 28.

The issue of the OROP calculating formula was one of the sticking points and various associations of veterans had demanded a clarification on this. The definition accepted by the Ministry of Defence is the one the Rajya Sabha Petitions Committee chaired by former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Bhagat Singh Koshyari suggested in December 2011.OROP, its said,: “implies that uniform pension be paid to Armed Forces personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement, and any future enhancement in the rates of pension to be automatically passed on to the past pensioners. This implies bridging the gap between the rate of pensions of the current pensioners and the past pensioners and also future enhancements in the rate of pension to be automatically passed on to the past pensioners.”

The OROP will be implemented from April 1 last year, implying that veterans would be entitled to arrears.The calculation of financial outlay for the OROP is being finalized and it could vary between Rs 9,000 crore and Rs 12,000 crore. 

It is expected to be completed by Tuesday following which the MoD will grant its sanction.The OROP was sanctioned by the previous government on February 17 last year.

(Source- Tribune News as in Sanjha Morcha)