The implementation of the one rank, one pension (OROP) for ex-Servicemen continues to be a source of discontent for the veterans’ community as their key objections remain unaddressed.
The one-man judicial commission of Justice L. Narasimha Reddy, former Chief Justice of the Patna High Court constituted in December last year to look into issues arising out of the implementation of the OROP, is scheduled to hold public hearings. Ex-servicemen’s groups said their representations to the Defence Ministry not have been forwarded to the commission and alleged “betrayal” by the government.
Maj. Gen. Satbir Singh (retd), Chairman of the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement, wrote to Mr. Parrikar and Mr. Reddy on August 3, conveying “anguish and concern” for this attitude of “neglect of defence personnel” by the government.
“Defence Ministry has not forwarded our representation to the one-man Committee in spite of the assurances given by Mr. Parrikar on March 14, 2016 during a meeting of representatives of ex-servicemen,” Maj. Gen. Singh told The Hindu . “The mandate given to One-Man Committee is to consider those questions/issues which have been referred to it by the Defence Ministry. This is a serious breach of trust reposed in the system,” Maj. Gen. Singh noted in the letter.
Adding to the concerns, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had, in response to a question why the definition has been changed, recently said in Parliament that there was no “standardised definition” of OROP. “OROP has been a long-standing demand as far as defence forces are concerned. OROP did not have a standardised definition as such there were different interpretations given,” Mr. Jaitley said.
