New Delhi: Finally bowing to the burgeoning pressure by agitating ex-servicemen, the government on Saturday announced acceptance of the long-pending demand for one rank, one pension, under which pension would be revised every five years.
The veterans, who at first promptly rejected the proposal and said their 84-day-long stir will continue, later said they will take a final call on continuing the agitation at their core committee meeting.
This was after the Centre assured them of a “clarification” on servicemen who have taken premature retirement, at a meeting on Saturday evening with defence minister Manohar Parrikar.
“Any premature retirement which is valid and legally acceptable to the Armed forces will be given OROP,” minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said.
Centre to ‘clarify’ on OROP
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, along with the three services chiefs, announced in a press conference that the government has decided to implement OROP under which there would be revision of pension every five years as against two years demanded by the ex-servicemen. The base year would be calendar year 2013 for the calculation of OROP and it will be implemented from July 1, 2014, Mr Parrikar said, while making it clear that ex-servicemen who have taken voluntary retirement would not be eligible for the scheme.
Read: Centre to ‘clarify’ on OROP
Incidentally the proposal is similar to the draft guidelines for OROP which were distributed during the BJP-RSS coordination meeting on September 4. The government is also setting up a one-member judicial committee to work out details of the implementation of OROP which will file a report in six months, the minister said.
Reacting initially to the announcement, the leader of agitating veterans, Maj. Gen. Satbir Singh (retd), said though they were satisfied with the government’s intention to implement OROP, they made it clear that the proposed benefits were not acceptable to them. Rejecting the provisions for pension revision after every five years and keeping those who take voluntary retirement (VRS) out of the scheme, Mr Singh said, “According to us, the government has accepted one of our demands and rejected six... At this point we cannot withdraw the agitation based on these details.”
