Government committed to implement ‘One Rank One Pension’: Manohar Parrikar to ex-servicemen
By PTI | 3 Jul, 2015, 08.29PM IST
NEW DELHI: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has conveyed the NDA government’s “unequivocal commitment” in implementing ‘One Rank One Pension’ (OROP) when a delegation of ex-servicemen, who are on a strike for past 19 days pressing for its execution, met him.
Not happy with Parrikar’s assurance, the agitating ex-servicemen said the question of ending the protest does not arise without a government announcement on implementing the long-pending demand.
“A six member delegation of United Front of Ex-Servicemen (UFESM) met the Defence Minister last night. Parrikar conveyed unequivocal commitment of the party (BJP)and the government towards implementation of OROP,” said Col (retd) Anil Kaul, spokesman of the Front.
He said Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag was also present at the meeting.
“The question of calling off the relay hunger strike does not arise unless a date for implementing it is announced and that too without dilution,” he said.
Kaul said the minister told the delegation that the file pertaining to OROP with various observations regarding resolutions of complexities had been received by him but he had not been able to study it.
Another meeting is likely to take place with the minister either on July 6 or 7, he said.
The relay hunger strike of ex-servicemen at Jantar Mantar entered 19th day today.
“We will wait for government’s decision on OROP till July 15 and then take our agitation for OROP to next level in which local ex-servicemen organisations all over the country will resort to demonstrations and other peaceful ways of voicing their grievance,” said Major General (retd) Satbir Singh, one of the leaders of the protest.
The Narendra Modi government has been maintaining that it is committed to OROP, a key promise made during Lok Sabha poll.
Close to 22 lakh ex-servicemen and over six lakh war widows stand to be immediate beneficiaries of the scheme, which envisages a uniform pension for the defence personnel who retire in the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement.
Currently, the pension for ex-servicemen is based on the Pay Commission recommendations of the time when they had retired.
Read at: EconomicTimes
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COMMENTS
One Rank , One Pension ( OROP )
As against 14 lakh serving military personnel , there are some 25 lakh retired military persons , in India , today
They are demanding , " One Rank , One Pension "
In simple terms :
> Col Mhatre retired in 1985 , with last drawn salary of Rs 10,000 pm
> Col Chari retired in 2000 , with last drawn salary of Rs 50,000 pm , and
> Col Patel retired in 2015 , with last drawn salary of Rs 100,000 pm
They all served for 30 years at the time of retirement
As per present Pension Rules, by way of pension :
> Col Mhatre may be getting Rs 2000 pm
> Col Chari may be getting Rs 10,000 pm
> Col Patel may be getting Rs 20,000 pm
Under OROP , all of them would today , get Rs 20,000 pm !
And as salaries keep climbing , with each passing year , they will all keep getting the same amount as pension, as the latest retiree in the same rank , who has put in same length of service , at the time of retirement
A kind of " Indexation " , aimed at neutralizing the ever-rising " cost of living " which is same for all three retirees !
And , the argument goes :
" Why not ?
Those who are serving , get their " cost of living " neutralized thru DA ( Dearness Allowance ) which automatically keeps rising every month , as CPI / WPI etc rise !
Why should early-retirees be made to suffer , for having been born earlier / served earlier ? "
One cannot find fault with such an argument !
But if OROP is implemented , the Governments ( Central + States ) must get ready with answers to the following :
> Will this lead to similar demands from millions of retired para-military forces and Police personnel , in all the States ?
> Could this lead to similar demands from all retired Civil Servants , at the Centre as well as , in the States ?
> Can this demand find an " Echo " in all retired Municipal / Panchayat employees , all over India ?
> Will private sector retired employees make similar demands on Corporate Employers ?
After all , no retiree ( of any kind ) , can escape the ravaging effects of ever – rising inflation ( cost of living ) ! Be rest assured , they will all be justified in making similar demands !
This raises following further questions :
> Will this set in motion , a Vicious Circle ?
> Will this make India , a " High Cost Economy " ?
Only time will tell
But one thing is crystal clear
Each succeeding generation will be required to bear the burden of ensuring that its preceding generation manages to live a life of dignity , which could well run into Rs lakhs of Crores !
I cannot escape comparing this potential scenario with the present Greek Tragedy , where almost all citizens ( whether serving in Government or in private companies ) ,
> Retire at the age of 50
> For the rest of their lives , draw a pension equal to 90 % of their last drawn salary !
I am not against OROP
I am for creating awareness of the issues and for starting a National Debate
—————————————————————————
hemen parekh
09 July, 2015
[email protected]
B2BmessageBlaster
Mr. Defence Minister when will you implement OROP? When your PM will return from Foreign trip or after your MPs pay hike that too 100% with all other facilities is implemented (This will be implemented within no seconds). Till the time Military is not upset/involved they will keep on stretching the matter bcoz nowadays they are the Rulers not servants. At the time of Polls they come with folded hands such as servants after that what we are seeing today…
Good governance is quick decisions. Both the ministry officials can sit across a table and sort out differences in their opinions/observations. If they got any deficiencies in finalising the OROP Scheme, they can invite the IESM representatives who are the final authority in this matter. Delay of this sort is not a good show on two prime ministry officials. The PM must insist that both the ministries must burn their energies in top efficiency possible.
Now, I feel there appears somewhere someone is trying to make it a political issue. The Govt of the day is telling everybody that they are fully committed to the issue. Why then so much hue and cry by us. Even the approximate amount has been set aside. There may be some issues which needs to addressed to avoid future litigation by us. We must be asking the Govt what are the so called clarifications that needed solutions rather than sitting on Dharnas..Let us be a little bit patient..that's all.
Why this matter has dragged for years together. This is because in the past we expressed our view and left the matter for the Government to decide.
When the elections period came in 2014, UPA bravely announced OROP implementation and to out do them Prime Minister Modi promised its implementation with all his lung power. Now it is being portrayed as complicated issue. More than a year has passed since Government came to power and so called complications are getting more complicated.
And what about the judgement of Supreme Court? May be Government is immune to it otherwise it should be a case of contempt of court.
Finally advice to our Defence Minister, why not scrap the damn OROP? That way all complications will be solved and it will be a very major achievement of Modi Government.
Why govt.is not able to fix a date for implementing OROP, several times RM said we are working day and night on war footing to solve the long pending issue of OROPand lastly he assured ESM that it will be implemented in the last week of April, we will get the pension arrears in 4 instalments, the 1st instalment will be paid in the 1st week of June.how come this assurence is bounced, how can this happen? several times PM RM and FM said our Govt. is commited to implement OROP why it is not implementd? NDA, govt. is commeted only in commiting false promises, how many times will Veteran IESM believe their false promises, Govt. has crossed the staturation point of lies, now Govt. has to give a date when it will implement OROP, we lost our patience and started relay hunger strike, sofar Govt did not give any importence to our RHS, it wont be a surprise if some frustrated ESM becomes a NATHURAM GODSE to see the end of the culprits playing with the honour of the great Sons of the country who gave the prime part of their life for serving their motherland.
Dear Friends,
Can anyone ask the BABUS of Finance Ministry as to how many times they will return the file of OROP with observation. Are they so useless that they can't see the objections in one go?
I pray to God to reserve seats for such BABUS in heaven.
Shame on them to force Veterans to sit on HUNGER STRIKE.
Regards,
Lt COL S.S.Bhatia