The ‘One Rank One Pension (OROP)’ issue is fast becoming a political embarrassment for the government.
After ex-servicemen were left disappointed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech in which he did not commit to a timeframe for OROP, ten former service chiefs wrote to the PM on Monday expressing “regret” at him not addressing their demand.
They also strongly condemned police action against soldiers protesting the delay at Jantar Mantar here last week.
The letter to the PM was signed by former Army chiefs General VN Sharma, General Shankar Roy Choudhury, General S Padmanabhan, General NC Vij, General JJ Singh, General Deepak Kapoor and General Bikram Singh, and also two former Air Force chiefs Air Chief Marshal NC Suri and Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi too and former Navy Chief Admiral Madhvendra Singh.
The service chiefs condemned the treatment meted out to the protesting soldiers.
“We are deeply perturbed and distressed by the high-handed treatment of our veterans on August 14 at Jantar Mantar. These veterans have been on a peaceful demonstration at this venue and have been trying to make the government hear their voice since June 12. We unequivocally condemn the action by the police and urge the government to investigate and take immediate action,” the letter reads.
Had faith in leadershipThey said they were expecting an announcement by the PM about implementation of the OROP.
“We had earlier not approached the Prime Minister as we had full faith in the announcements made by our senior political leadership from time to time. We were also hopeful that the announcement of the implementation of OROP would be made to the nation on Independence Day. Regrettably, this has not happened. Also, the high-handed attitude of the police on August 14 has prompted us to raise this issue,” the service chiefs said.
Clearly definedAccording to the service chiefs, the “often quoted” technical difficulties with regard to OROP are “bewildering” as there is only one definition of OROP which has been accepted by Parliament as well as the Defence Minister in presence of the soldiers.
“This is uniform pension to be paid to the Armed Forces personnel retiring in the same rank with same length of service irrespective of their date of retirement. Simultaneously, annual review system would be required to be put in place for equalisation of pension of the past and current retirees,” they said.