Allaying fear of veterans on one rank one pension, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said armed forces personnel who retired prematurely will be entitled to OROP. Mr. Modi also added that it was not an easy decision for his government as it could have very wide ramifications, adding that nothing mattered to his government more than the esteem of the soldiers.
Referring to OROP at the function to inaugurate Badarpur-Escorts (Mujesar) corridor of Delhi Metro, Mr. Modi said that the previous government had pegged the expenditure on OROP at Rs. 500 crore and even Koshiyari Committee had calculated it to be around Rs. 500 crore, but everyone was bewildered when the calculations begin and it came around Rs.8,000-10,000 crore. “Successive governments for four decades had failed to resolve the issue. But we had made a promise and kept our words,” said Mr. Modi, amid loud cheers.
Sounding a note of caution, Mr. Modi said that there were attempts to mislead the soldiers, but the rank-and-the-file was set to benefit the most from the announcement.
Without naming anyone, Mr. Modi said that those who had been rejected by the people were making attempts to obstruct the growth of the country. He said that “development” was the one-point agenda of his government.
Earlier, Mr. Modi waved ceremonial flag to dedicate the metor corridor to public.
The nine stations in this section — Sarai, NHPC Chowk, Mewala Maharajpur, Sector-28, Badkal Mor, Old Faridabad, Neelam Chowk Ajronda, Bata Chowk and Escorts Mujesar — mark the extension of Line 6 of Delhi Metro from Central Secretariat to Badarpur. The entire stretch is elevated and the stations are located on either side of the Delhi-Mathura Road (National Highway-2).
What makes this corridor stand out is that all stations and the depots are energy-efficient with the use of LED lighting and regenerative braking in lifts which earned the stations platinum rating. What more, these stations have also been provided with roof-top solar system of 1.9 MWp capacity to meet the entire auxiliary power requirement. It is intended to run trains at a frequency of 6’32” for the operation of this portion of the corridor.
Besides, additional entry and exit points from across the road (NH-2) through foot over bridges (FOBs) have been provided as an added facility to commuters. The FOBs at the stations are being provided with lifts and escalators in addition to stairs for the convenience of commuters.
