Hopes receded on Friday of an announcement of the implementation of the one rank, one pension (OROP) scheme by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address from the historic Red Fort as talks between the Centre and ex-servicemen groups stalled over a working formula.
Addressing presspersons on the sidelines of an event in Dehradun, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said the Centre would take some more time to implement the scheme as there were some “technical difficulties” that needed to be addressed.
In Delhi, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley too indicated that the government is yet to reach an agreement with ex-servicemen on the formulation of the OROP principle.
“The government is completely committed to the OROP principle…It’s only the arithmetical translation of that principle that is holding things up…because several interpretations are being considered,” Mr. Jaitley told reporters.
He has held several rounds of talks with interlocutors including former Army Chief General V.P. Malik without reaching an understanding on the pension formula.
A retired official in the know, however, said that “the gap between what OROP says and what the government is proposing to give is too wide.” Meetings between the representatives of ex-servicemen and officials from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office too remain inconclusive on the OROP, a key promise made by the BJP in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls last year.
“Our government is committed to implementing the OROP scheme. However, it will take some time… there are some technical difficulties that are hindering the implementation,” Mr. Parrikar said, without elaborating on what the “technical difficulties” are or how much time the Centre would take.
The Defence Minister also said the government would fulfil the BJP promise. “We will implement it during this tenure and will do it soon,” Mr. Parrikar said.
‘Financial burden’
Sources said the government feared that the OROP formulation being demanded by the ex-servicemen could lead to a huge financial burden on the exchequer. The talks are, therefore, stuck on the point of trimming the definition of OROP for officer cadre, something that has been refused by the ex-servicemen.
The government has stated that the cost to the exchequer initially would be Rs. 8,300 crore. However, it is expected to sharply increase the annual pension bill.
The scheme essentially envisages a uniform pension for the defence personnel who retire in the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement. It will immediately benefit close to 22 lakh ex-servicemen and over six lakh war widows.
