Around 1,000 ex-servicemen gathered outside Town Hall with just one demand. They all wanted the centre to implement the “One Rank One Pension”.
“One Rank One Pension” implies that uniform pension be paid to the armed forces personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement; and, any future enhancement in the rates of pension to be automatically passed on to the past pensioners.
Ex. Sgt. M. Prabhakaran, Karnataka state convenor, Armed Forces Veterans Association of India, told The Hindu that similar protests were held across the country, with the largest being in New Delhi.
“Though we have many other demands, the protest on Sunday had just one demand – immediate implementation of ‘One Rank One Pension’. It is a long pending demand and we were hopeful that it would be implemented by the NDA Government, as was promised,” he said.
Despite the recommendations of recommendations of the Koshyari Committee, the government has failed to implement it. Ex. Sgt. Prabhakaran said that in September 2013, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Narendra Modi had promised to implement “One Rank One Pension” scheme and had even demanded White Paper from the previous UPA Government.
Stating that the government cannot renege on its commitment, the ex-servicemen said that the protest was their way of expressing disappointment with the inordinate delay in implementation of the “One Rank One Pension” scheme.
