The talks between ex-servicemen and
Defence Minister over the One Rank One Pension scheme failed and they decided
to go ahead with their planned rally followed by a relay hunger strike to
protest. -
The talks between ex-servicemen and
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar over the One Rank One Pension scheme failed
on Saturday after which the retired defence personnel decided to go ahead with
their planned rally on June 14 followed by a relay hunger strike to protest the
long delay in implementation of the scheme.
“Though Defence Minister Manohar
Parrikar understood our problem and argument, he did not give any date for the
implementation of the OROP and hence we are going ahead with our agitation,”
Maj Gen Satbir Singh, chairman of Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM) told
PTI.
He twice led a delegation of
ex-servicemen today at meetings with Parrikar and Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh
Suhag.
Singh said he has complete faith in
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and hoped that the OROP will be
implemented soon.
The ex-servicemen group has also
written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention to
meet their long-pending demand.
At a conclave of the retired defence
personnel today, it was decided that they will call off their proposed
agitation if the Minister gave a deadline of July 15 for the
implementation of the OROP.
implementation of the OROP.
OROP seeks to ensure that a uniform
pension is paid to the defence personnel retiring in the same rank with the
same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement.
Close to 22 lakh ex-servicemen and
over six lakh war widows stand to be the immediate beneficiaries of the scheme.
Even though the government
has said it is committed to implementing OROP, there has been no official
clarification on why the scheme is delayed.
Defence Ministry sources said that
the OROP file is lying with the Finance Ministry for a final budgetary
approval.
Parrikar has repeatedly said that
the government has completed all formalities and OROP will be
implemented soon.
“Since December last, we have met
Parrikar four times and every time he said it would be implemented in a week or
so,” Singh said at the conclave.
The Army chief, while addressing
ex-servicemen on March 14, had said that OROP would be approved latest by April
30
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