Agencies
NEW DELHI, MAY 30
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that his government is committed to the ‘One Rank, One Pension’ (OROP) scheme for ex-servicemen. “On OROP- the Govt is committed to OROP & there’s no doubt about it,” PM Modi tweeted this morning.
The PM’s remarks came a day after Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said that no timeframe could be specified for the implementation of OROP as a couple of administrative steps were still pending.
Parrikar had said a day earlier on Thursday that all the formalities for implementing the OROP scheme have been completed.
The PM’s assurance has come just days after his NDA government completed an year in office.
In an interview to an English daily, the PM also took a dig at the opposition Congress for trying to politicise the issue.
“The previous governments don’t have the right to speak about it because they did nothing when they were in power,” Modi told the newspaper.
The PM informed that his government was “in constant discussions with the armed forces personnel to arrive at a please-all definition of OROP of which there are varied versions.”
“Would it be proper for me to take a decision without keeping the armed forces personnel in the loop? So we are trying to arrive at a please-all decision,” the PM said.
OROP scheme is aimed at ensuring that all retired soldiers, who have the same rank and the length of service receive the same amount of pension, irrespective of their date of retirement. Currently, all those soldiers who retired before 2006 receive less pension than their counterparts and even their juniors.
Protesting government’s “delay” in the implementation of OROP, 1971 war veteran Wing Commander (Retd) Suresh Karnik had on Thursday boycotted a gallantry award function in Pune attended by Defence Minister Parrikar.
‘Suit boot’ is more acceptable than ‘suitcase’: PM
PTI
NEW DELHI, MAY 30
In a strong response to Rahul Gandhi's 'suit boot ki sarkar' jibe, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said "Suit boot is definitely more acceptable than suitcase."
He also said that the contentious Land Acquisition Bill is not "a matter of life or death for me" and that he was prepared to accept any suggestions.
"Suit boot is definitely more acceptable than suitcase. After ruling for 60 years, the Congress has suddenly remembered the poor. People of this country have suffered and remained poor due to shortsighted policies of the Congress," he told ANI.
Hitting out at Congress, Modi said, "Did the coal and spectrum scandals or the CWG fiasco benefit the poor? Everyone knows who were the beneficiaries -- some chosen industrialists and contractors."
On the controversial Land Bill, the Prime Minister said in an interview carried by The Tribune newspaper, "This is not a matter of life or death for me. And neither was it the agenda of my party or the government."
His comments on the Land Bill assume significance as the Cabinet today decided to promulgate the Ordinance on it for the third time.
Modi said the opposition to the Land Bill is "totally unjustified and unfortunate" as he argued that the government has not made any changes for private industry. "We have made changes only in response to demands of the states. The benefits of these changes will also accrue to the rural poor in terms of irrigation, housing, electrification, as well as better physical and social infrastructure," he said.
The Prime Minister also spoke about the controversy surrounding the 'One-Rank, One-Pension' (OROP) for ex-servicemen and told the newspaper, "We are committed to OROP, but we are in consultation with defence personnel regarding the definition of OROP.
PTI
NEW DELHI,MAY 30
Rejecting criticism that he has concentrated all powers in his hands, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said Narendra Modi is a hands-on Prime Minister who listens to everybody but his word is final.
He contrasted this with the 10 years of UPA regime when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had "no actual powers".
"In a democracy, the Prime Minister always has the last word. I can't deny that Narendra Modi is a strong leader but he is a hands-on Prime Minister who listens to everybody.
"As is expected in a democracy, his word is final. And there is nothing wrong in that. Even in Vajpayee government, everybody was consulted but the PM had the last word," Jaitley told Rajat Sharma on Aap ki Adalat programme on India TV.
When asked to comment on a description by The Economist magazine that Modi is a "one-man band", he said he cannot be compared to Singh who was "portrayed as PM in office but not in power" by the same publication, according to a release issued by the channel.
"For 10 years, we had a Prime Minister who had no actual powers. I have been an admirer of Manmohan Singh for his personal competence but the Congress never gave him a free hand. Had the Congress allowed him to work according to his competence, the history of India would have been difference," Jaitley said.
Stressing the importance of a Prime Minister wielding a real authority, he said, "the nation can't be run under an arrangement where PM has the designation but lacks actual powers. Prime Minister Modi is a very hardworking leader who also accepts his colleagues to be equally hardworking."
Rejecting Rahul Gandhi's charge of Modi government being a "suit-boot ki sarkar", the Finance Minister said it is actually "soojh-booj ki sarkar" (government that thinks intelligently).
"You come up with such arguments when you have no substance in your utterances. In the last one year, it has been proved that this is a "soojh-booj ki sarkar," he said.
Asked to respond to Rahul Gandhi's accusations that NDA government was trying to snatch farmers' land and hand it over to big corporates, Jaitley said the Congress vice president has not read either his own party's Land Acquisition Act of 2013 not the new Bill.
