Union minister VK Singh's daughter joins 'One Rank One Pension' protest
Delhi: Minister of State for External Affairs and former army chief General (Retired) V.K Singh's daughter joined the ongoing ex-servicemen's protest for implementation of the one rank one pension at Janta Mantar in New Delhi on Sunday.
One Rank, One Pension (OROP), or same pension, for same rank and for the same length of service, irrespective of the date of retirement was the basis for determining the pension and benefits of Indian Armed Forces till 1973.
In 1973, the Congress Government headed by then prime minister Indira Gandhi, following the Third Central Pay Commission's recommendations,, in an "ex-parte" decision terminated OROP.
The termination of OROP has caused a lot disquiet in the armed forces and been a cause of public protests by armed forces veterans.
The Koshyari Committee examined the issue of grant of OROP and submitted its report on December 19, 2011 and unanimously found merit in OROP and strongly recommended its implementation
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"Government should implement OROP in the defence forces across the board at the earliest and further that for future, the pay, allowances, pension, family pension, etc in respect of the defence personnel should be determined by a separate commission so that their peculiar terms" are properly taken into account," it said.
The Koshyari Committee had then blamed bureaucratic resistance and apathy for the failure to implement OROP.
In the run up to the general election of 2014, OROP became a political issue.
It was an integral part of the election manifesto of many political parties, including the Congress and the BJP. Leaders of both made repeated commitments to implement OROP if elected.
On June 15 this year, angered by the government's delay, the ex-servicemen organizations launched nation-wide protests, including hunger strikes this month.
Read: OROP row: Delhi Lt Governor transferred 35 police
On August 14, 2015, on the eve of India's 69th Independence Day, Delhi Police physically evicted the ex-servicemen, wives of servicemen, many in their eighties, from the Jantar Mantar protest site.
The eviction was apparently done without proper supervision and resulted in the government being accused of high handedness by the public.
