New Delhi: Mrinalini Singh, the daughter of Gen. V.K. Singh (Retd), former Army Chief, said that she supported the “just” demand on the long-pending “One-Rank-One-Pension” scheme for ex-servicemen, and suggested her father should also do so. Asked if her father approved of her joining the protest, she said: “I have not sought his permission, nor do I need his permission.”
Mrinalini, who is also the wife of a serving Army officer, said her father had earlier written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking early implementation of OROP. The minister wrote the five-page letter around the time the protest began around two months back, sources said.
“This is a just cause and the matter has been pending for many years. I have come here as the daughter of an ex-serviceman to give support to veterans who have served the country, but are now protesting for their rights for over two months,” Ms Singh said.
“A few years down the line, I will also become the wife of an ex-serviceman,” she said expressing full faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Our previous governments have been promising to do something. This government looks committed towards fulfilling it. So I hope it fulfils it,” she said.
Asked whether her father should also join the protest, she said, “I am going to meet him. I will definitely ask him to come and join the protest.”
Observers feel it is hugely symbolic that the daughter of a serving minister in the Modi government has joined the protests, which will put greater pressure on the Centre to announce the implementation of OROP.
Just last week, the PMO had intervened in the OROP imbroglio and held talks with ex-servicemen who agreed not to escalate their stir for the next 10 days.
OROP essentially means that all ex-servicemen will get the same pension according to rank and tenure of service irrespective of when they retired. According to estimates, around 22 lakh ex-servicemen and over six lakh widows of ex-servicemen stand to be immediate beneficiaries of the scheme, when it is implemented.
Ex-servicemen have been demanding the implementation of OROP and have been conducting a relay hungerstrikes for the past two months, with a few of them also going on a fast-unto-death.
Four former service chiefs recently sought President’s intervention.
