Government should clarify stand on One Rank One Pension Scheme: Deepender Singh Hooda

Indian Military Veterans

A Congress member on Tuesday urged the government in the Lok Sabha to clarify its stand on the One-Rank One-Pension scheme and implement the same without delay.

Raising the issue, Deepender Singh Hooda alleged that some bureaucrats are trying to change the definition of One Rank One Pension (OROP) causing concern among 32 lakh ex-servicemen awaiting the scheme's implementation. "The government must clarify its stand at the earliest and must not delay in implementing the OROP scheme in the name of either falling into a bureaucratic trap or wanting to maintain the fiscal deficit target of 4.1% of the GDP," Hooda said.

It was estimated that implementation of the scheme, brought during the previous UPA rule, would cost about Rs 9,000 crore. Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said there should be a discussion on implementation of One Rank Open Pension scheme. Sonaram Choudhary (BJP) raised the issue of farmers inhabiting the border areas. He said relief should be provided to farmers whose land has been utilised for fencing the border in Rajasthan, particularly in Barmer.

In 1994-95 onwards, the government installed barbed wire fencing at a distance of 150 yards from the pillars on the Indian border. According to him, peasants of Bikaner, Jaisalmer and Barmer districts who were illiterate, did not take any initiative to get the right to cultivate their ancestral lands.

He demanded that these peasants, whose lands fall between the pillars and the fencing, should be given alternative land or compensation at market rate. Saugata Roy (TMC) raised concerns over Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme implementation.

He said it is a demand-driven scheme but instead of responding to rural demands for work, the government wants to make it allocation based. "The government propose to further restrict who gets work and where by restricting it to only 200 districts," he noted.