Ex-servicemen protesting over the issue of One Rank One pension (OROP) on Sunday stepped up their protest, moving from Jantar Mantar to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s residence whose Ministry, according to them, is responsible for the delay in OROP implementation.
A few hundred veterans staged protest outside Mr. Jaitley’s residence demanding a meeting with him. This is the second protest in a week and they announced that this time they are here to stay until the government talks to them.
“We met Mr. Jaitley on January 3 and he assured to talk to Mr. Parrikar within a week to address our concerns. On the 9th I wrote to him again and also spoke to his office after but there is no response,” Maj Gen Satbir Singh, chairman of Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement told The Hindu. The veterans have drawn up plans to escalate the protests and cautioned the government against forced eviction. “Now we will not move from here till Mr. Jaitley or Mr. Parrikar comes and talks to us,” Maj. Gen. Singh added.
Recently the government appointed a one man judicial commission headed by Justice L Narasimha Reddy, former Chief Justice of Patna High Court to look into the implementation. The committee is stipulated to submit its report in six months.
