Dear
Veterans,
Letter to all MPs, copy to PM,RM, three Chiefs and leader of the opposition
party regarding Grant of OROP to defence Personnel is enclosed herewith wide
further circulation please.
With
Regards,
Yours
Sincerely,
Maj Gen (Retd) Satbir Singh, SM
Vice Chairman Indian ESM Movement
GRANT OF ONE
RANK ONE PENSION (OROP) TO DEFENCE PERSONNEL
Dear Member’s Of the Parliament,
1. Rajya Sabha Pettion Committee Report presented in the
Parliament on 19 Dec 2011, strongly recommending grant of OROP be accepted and
implemented. It will not be appropriate to have it reviewed by the
Committee of Secretaries.
2. Four out of the five secretaries nominated to the
Committee to review OROP ie Defence, Finance, Expenditure & DESW had
appeared before the Rajya Sabha Petition Committee and had given evidence
against the grant of OROP. The Petition Committee found all the reasons
given by the four Secretaries for non grant of OROP untenable and went on to
opine that the reasons substantiated by the secretaries are merely a Smoke
Screen to deny genuine demand of the Defence Personnel.
3. The Petition Committee found that till 1973, Defence Forces
were getting OROP in the form of Military Pensions and clubbing them with the
Civilian Employees was an unwise decision.
4. The Petition Committee also rejected the views of
secretaries that if OROP is granted to Defence Personnel then other Central
Govt Employees will also ask for the same. The committee opined that the
profession of Arms is Unique and different and that no other Govt employee
should ever think of drawing any comparison.
5. Some of the other countries like USA, UK
France, Germany, Pakistan etc have packaged their Armed Forces 15-25%
higher than other Central Services.
6. There is a shortage of over 14000 officers in the Defence
Forces which is causing serious leadership deficit at the cutting edge with
adverse serious functional consequences. Some learned people have said the
following which require serious consideration:-
* “The yearning for easy money is so
pronounced today that there is no dearth of job aspirants that offer
opportunities for Corrupt practices. Corruption has eaten into the very Vitals
of the Society and body politic and have affected every facet of Economic
Activity. BUT soldiering is a profession that has to be entrusted to the
Committed Men. Without good Soldiers our Country will become vulnerable
to the Enemy Designs”.
* “No Country can afford to make its
armed forces career for those who seek a Vocation elsewhere. We MUST
attract the Right Quality of material to our Armed Forces because the Nation
cannot take the risk of handing over its Security and Integrity to those who
seek the profession of arms as an Alternative”.
* “The
Armed forces are not like a limited liability Company to be reconstructed from
time to time as the money fluctuates. It is not an inanimate thing like a
house to be pulled down or enlarged or structurally altered at the caprice of
the tenant or owner. It is a living thing. If it is bullied it
sulks; If it is unhappy it pines; If it is sufficiently disturbed, It will
wither and dwindle and almost die, and when it comes to this last serious
condition, it is only revived through lot of effort and lots of money.”
7. OROP has been accepted as genuine demand by almost
all PMs and Political Parties since 1984. But the same has not been
sanctioned so far. This has lead to a strong discontentment in the Defence
Personnel both serving and retired. There needs to be introspection by the Govt
to know the reasons for its denial.
8. RM in his letter to PM on 25th June
2012 has also expressed concerns over the existing 39 anomalies in the Pay and
Pensions of the Defence Personnel and pointed out that serving personnel, Ex
servicemen and family pensioners are equally agitated over anomalies. He
suggested that corrective action be taken or things may take a bad turn.
9. As far as OROP is concerned, it requires Rajya
Sabha Committee recommendation to be accepted & implemented. There
should be no question of further examining the issue of OROP by committee of
bureaucrats. The remaining eight anomalies should be examined by a joint
committee comprising bureaucrats as well as representatives of Armed Forces
both serving and retired. Likewise the remaining 30 anomalies must also
be examined and resolved by a joint committee.
10. It is brought to your notice that Armed Forces Grievances
Redressal Commission (AFGRC) constituted by the order of the Supreme Court
which was required to be operational by 15th Jan
2011 has not been implemented till date. Most of the grievances would
have been judicially resolved to the satisfaction of all, had this commission
been made operational. If the rule of law has to be respected, it is
obligatory on the part of the Govt to set an example by accepting and
implementing the SC order. It is a typical case which the Prime Minister
may like to investigate as to why it has not been implemented.
11. Rajya Sabha Petition Committee has assessed
additional expenditure of Rs 1300 crores for the current year which is
considered an appropriate expenditure to meet the long outstanding demand of
OROP.
12. We earnestly & strongly request you to take up
the case of Defence Forces with the Govt to address some of the serious shortcomings
in the Human Resources Management of the Military, both serving and
retired. Their genuine grievances and concerns may please be addressed
expeditiously as under :-
(a) Rajya Sabha Petition Committee
report on OROP be accepted and implemented immediately. All Defence
Personnel be granted OROP ie Defence Personnel retiring with
the same rank and same years of service must get same pension irrespective
of the date of retirement and any future enhancements be automatically
passed on to the pensioners. The bottom line is, no senior defence person
should ever draw less pension than his junior.
(b) Recommendations of Rajya Sabha
Petition Committee on OROP should not be examined by another
committee of bureaucrats.
(c) The remaining eight issues incorporated in the terms of reference of the
Committee of Secretaries headed by Cabinet Secretary, constituted
by the PM on 09 Jul 2012 be examined by a joint committee comprising
bureaucrats as well as representatives of the Armed Forces both
serving and retired in a time frame of one month.
(d) Likewise the remaining
30 anomalies in Pay & pensions of Defence Personnel must also be examined
and resolved by a Joint Committee.
(e) Armed Forces
Grievances Redressal Commission (AFGRC) constituted by the order of the Supreme
Commander which was required to be functional by 15th Jan 2011
has not been established. The same be established and made operational
immediately.
With Regards,
Jai
Hind
Yours Sincerely,
Maj Gen (Retd) Satbir Singh, SM
Vice Chairman Indian ESM Movement
Copy to:-
Dr Manmohan Singh
Hon’ble Prime Minister of India
10 Parliament House
New Delhi -110011
Sh AK Antony
Defence Minister
104, South Block
New Delhi
Gen Bikram Singh, -
PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, ADC
Chief of the Army Staff
Integrated HQs of Armed Forces (Army)
South Block, New Delhi-110011
Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma,
PVSM, AVSM, ADC
Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee &
Chief of the Naval Staff
Integrated HQs of Armed Forces (Navy)
South Block, New Delhi-110011
Air Chief Marshal Norman Anil Kumar Browne
PVSM, AVSM, VM
Chief of the Air Staff
Integrated HQs of Armed Forces (Air Force)
Vayu Bhawan, New Delhi-110011
Is there a limit to the number of letters or reminders one can write? Why are the Chiefs who represent the uniformed fraternity shamelessly continuing to hold on to their chairs?
ReplyDeletePlease show some guts.
I just read a brilliant aricle on Canary Trap over the weekend. Will do your readers a world of good.
Superb Letter!Pls Press on the point, we are all with you.
ReplyDeleteI hope our political Masters and the Government of the day see the sense in what we are justifiably deserve and demand.I hope better sense prevails and they do the needful sooner than later.
Most appropriate expression of facts. The state has spent 50/- crores for Kasab till 23 Aug.12 & much more for others like Afzal.OROP cost is around 1300/-crores.
ReplyDeleteCapt.Suresh K Kapil
THE RETIRED LEARNED GENERAL ON BEHALF OF OFFICERS SOLDERS AIRMEN AND SAILORS HAS DEDICATED HIS LIFE TO THEIR CAUSE.
ReplyDeleteTOGETHER WITH MANY DISTINGUISHED GENERALS THEY HAVE GONE RIGHT UPTO THE PRESIDENT AND EVEN RETURNED GALLANTRY AND GOOD SERVICE MEDALS . FOR A NET GAIN OF A FEW HUNDRED IN PENSION TO THE DEPRIVED WIDOWS OR THE UNJUST GAP OF MAJS AND MAJGEN
PENSIONS WHERE THERE IS A GAP OF THOUSANDS THE FINANCIAL BURDEN AS CALCULATED BY THE HON LOK SABHA PANEL AND RECC
BY RAJYA SABHA MEMBERS ANY SANE GOVT WOULD HAVE GRANTED THE LONG PENDING DEMANDS OF ARMED FORCES SERVING AND RETIRED PERSONNEL.THE COMMITTE OF BABUS AND THE GOVT OF CORRUPT MINISTERS HAS REDUCED INDIAS WARRIORS TO THE PLIGHT OF ORPHANS AND EXPLOITED WIDOWS . THE FIGHTING FORCES HAVE HAD THEIR VERY SOUL STOLEN AND THE PRICE INTERMS WHICH THIS COUNTRY WILL PAY ONE DAY IS INCALCULABLE
Respected Sir,
ReplyDeleteWe the ex soldiers feel that there should be separate additional concession for grant of OROP for the dedicated service rendered for the nation and as an incentive to the new generation to join the Army voluntarily
Dear General Satbir Singh,
ReplyDeleteSaw your post on http://indiamydreamland.blogspot.in/2012/08/grant-of-one-rank-one-pension-orop-to.html .
Here is what has been told to the Indian and foreign media:
It is not understood why the entire English print and TV media are projecting the "One Rank One Pension" having been implemented. This is pure misinformation by the corrupt media who are always hand-inglove with the power brokers of Dilli.
Further, despite the world having moveed far enough with the rise of Facebook, Twitter and domain expertise , IT IS NOT YET UNDERSTOOD WHY ALL MATTERS PERTAINING TO THE ARMED FORCES OF INDIA HAVE TO BE UNDERTAKEN BY BUREAUCRATS WHOOSE ONLY CLAIM TO BEING INTELLIGENT IS HAVING PASSED A BORING ENTRANCE TEST. THE BUREAUCRATS ARE TOTALLY OUT OF SYNC WITH TODAYS WORLD AND THEIR SKULL DUGGERY AND TOM FOOLERY WILL NOT LONGER WORK!"
All over the world, experts are appointed to do a piece of work, electrical enginners do their bit of work and economits like the Chief Economic Advisor to India, Mr. Raghuraman are hired by the people of India (through the their representative "The Government of India" to handle our ecenomy better.
In the HR (Human Resources) world and the Indian Armed Forces theri are domain specialists who rpecisely know the issues of "One Rank One Pension" and yet they are systematically sidetracked. All these years.
Compare that with our masters who get themselves employed by the People of India (through a foggy elections of course!) and grant themesleves life-time pensions with a few days of work. Compae that to that of a soldier ( who is not less than a sandhu or a faqir who dedicates his life for a the quisling fools to get a few bread crumbs at the end of his service tenure - which is a long one - compounded by the fact that he has to leave early at a relatively young age and becomes a useless commodity to a heartless society that is India.
But in this Hindoostan the Indian Armed Forces have been a gift by the Britishers and to preserve this last bastion the current crop of Chandra Gupta Mauryas and Chankyas (Kautilyas ) of Dilli have to take a stock - whether to go the road the Nandas of Magadh took or something similar to the era of of the Mauryas in Patliputra many eons back. They should read Arthashashtra ( the ancient book by Chanakya and followed as the standard read for many countries around the aworld and India's adversaries as well) first before attempting anything else like modern day economic juggling as a means to fool the people.
Regards and best wishes in your fight. Rope in ex-servicemen from across the globe. And ensure the benefits of such clever announcement do not yield dividends in Himachal Pradesh and elsewhere.
--
One hopes that the world media and the British media to take notice of this. Their is a book "An Indian Summer" written by an Oxford historian by the name of Alaexa Von Tuzelmann. Read that and see todays India in that context.
Armoredfish