Agencies
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 14
With political parties - Congress, Aam Aadmi Party - extending support to ‘One Rank, One Pension’ protests at Jantar Mantar, Defence Minister Manohar on Friday reiterated that all the assurances will be fulfilled by the NDA government.
Addressing a press conference, the Union Minster said that though there are some technical difficulties, yet the government is working on the possible implementation of OROP.
Asserting that NDA government was committed to implementing OROP, Parrikar said it was working to fulfil the long-pending demand of the ex-servicemen.
“We will fulfil the assurances that we have given in this regard... When we have said this, the government has to do it within its tenure and we will do it quite early. We are bound by our assurance. We will comply with our assurance,” he said.
Earlier, Delhi Police today evicted ex-servicemen who were protesting in the heart of the capital seeking OROP but later allowed them to continue with the protest. In a crackdown apparently linked to Saturday’s Independence Day celebrations, police and civic employees swooped on the protesting retired soldiers at the Jantar Mantar protest site, leading to scuffles.
Government today sent out a clear message to the Delhi police that the ex-servicemen protesting for the implementation of the OROP at Jantar Mantar here should not be evicted.
Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju called up Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi ordering him that these defence veterans should not be removed from the protest site.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi today extended his support to ex-servicemen and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare a date for the implementation of the long pending demand of the armed forces. Rahul today went to Jantar Mantar and met the protesting (retired) personnel of the armed forces.
After meeting them, the Congress vice president asked PM Modi to announce the final date as to when his NDA government will implement the OROP.
Agitating ex-servicemen demanding implementation of OROP were allegedly manhandled by the police as it tried to evict them from protest hotspot Jantar Mantar here ahead of the Independence Day celebrations on the ground of security.
Terming the police action as “barbaric” and “undemocratic”, the ex-servicemen, who have been on protest for nearly two-months, wondered how can they be “security threat” when they dedicated their lives protecting the country while in service.
Currently, the pension for retired personnel is based on the pay commission recommendations at the time when the personnel retired.
This leads to a difference in pension for officers of same rank who retire on different dates. With OROP, retired personnel would draw the same pension as officers and jawans of the same rank who are retiring now.
They would also be entitled to a year’s back pensions at the new rate, which would be a windfall for pensioners.
The OROP will benefit 25 lakh ex-servicemen. It is expected to cost the government around Rs 8,500 crore.
Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju has also asked the Delhi Police Commissioner not to remove the ex-servicemen protesting at Jantar Mantar.
Close to 22 lakh ex-servicemen and over six lakh war widows stand to be immediate beneficiaries of the scheme, which 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.
