Even as they displayed a President’s medal bearing testimony to their father’s accomplishment to visitors at the RML Hospital here, the family members of former Subedar Ram Kishen Grewal lamented that the government failed to wake up at the right time. Grewal committed suicide demanding one rank, one pension (OROP). Their father’s unfulfilled wish was implementation of OROP, which the family demanded in exchange for allowing the police to send the body for post-mortem.
Later on Wednesday night, the family received the body and were on their way to Bamla. They said Grewal retired in 2004 and then became Sarpanch of Bamla village in Haryana.
“My father sacrificed his life for the cause of OROP, for the sake of his motherland and we would continue his struggle. We would settle for nothing less than the implementation of OROP the way it was promised,” said his son Pradeep.
Grewal worked for six years in the Army (105 infantry Bn (T.A.) Rajasthan Rifle Group) and took discharge from there. Then he served for nearly 24 years in the Defence Security Corps.
A senior Defence Ministry officer said Grewal was getting pension as per the 6th Pay Commission and the OROP arrears were approved. He had not received the revision under the 7th Pay Commission which is yet to be implemented. It would have raised his pension from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 30,000.
Grewal is survived by his wife, five sons and two daughters, both married. The Haryana government has announced an ex gratia of Rs. 10 lakh for the family and a job for one of his sons.
