Various news items on OROP
NDTV
NEW DELHI: The Centre
has in principle cleared the 'One Rank One Pension' scheme for retired armed
forces personnel, sources have told NDTV. The government has made a provision
for an additional Rs. 8,300 crore for this purpose.
The scheme, which seeks to ensure that a uniform pension is paid to defence personnel who retire at the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement, has been a long-standing demand of the over 20 lakh ex-servicemen in the country. Majority of Defence personnel hang up their boots much before 60 years. Also, over the years the disparity in the pension drawn by personnel of same rank who retired for instance a decade ago and those who retire now is substantial.
Demand for One Rank One Pension has been an emotive issue with defence pensioners for long. And, between 2008- 2010 veterans have on several occasions marched to Rashtrapati Bhavan to return their gallantry medals.
Sources say once Prime Minister Narendra Modi is back on May 19 from his three-nation tour, a final round of discussions will take place with him. The official announcement is likely to be made later this month, coinciding with the first anniversary celebrations of the NDA government.
The government has already made it clear that One Rank One Pension will be implemented with effect from April 1, 2014.
http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/one-rank-one-pension-cleared-in-principle-pm-modi-to-take-final-call-sources-763827
WAIT TO GET
OVER - One rank-one pension on way
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TIMES NEWS NETWORK
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The
long-awaited one-rank, one-pension (OROP) for over 25 lakh ex-servicemen is set
to be announced this month with a corpus of about Rs 8,300 crore, after several
false starts since the NDA government assumed office a year ago.
As
earlier reported by TOI, the defence ministry had earlier cleared the
implementation of the OROP mechanism but it was being vetted by the finance
ministry. Defence minister Manohar Parrikar told journalists in Goa over the
weekend that the finance ministry would clear OROP “in a few days“.
It will
be announced once PM Narendra Modi returns from his three-nation visit to
coincide with the first anniversary celebrations of the NDA government on May
26. It will come as a big relief to ex-servicemen, who have been agitating for
the OROP mechanism for several years now, with many of them even return ing
their medals to register their protest against what all political parties have
promised but never actually delivered.
OROP
basically implies payment of a uniform pension to personnel retiring in the
same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of
retirement. For instance, two officers who served as colonels for seven years
will get the same pension even if they retire a decade apart. A colonel with
five years in that rank will obviously get less pension based on a graded
scale.
The Modi
government has defined `military pension' as a category separate from other
kinds of pension since soldiers, sailors and airmen as well as their officers,
who retire at a much younger age and serve hardship postings, cannot be equated
with other government employees.
Successive
governments in the past had contended that granting full OROP was neither
financially nor administratively possible since it could lead to a cascading
effect, with similar demands being made by others like paramilitary personnel.
By the
kind courtesy of timesofindia.com
RRM is stated to
have said the following on
"One rank, one pension” OROP:
RRM Mr Singh said the government has “arrived” at a figure, and the “Defence Minister will be making the formal announcement any moment”. He said the government had consulted all parties involved in the decision making, and “we are hopeful that we have been able to cater to everyone’s expectations”.
Parrikar had indicated on Saturday that the OROP — earlier stuck
in the Finance Ministry due to disagreement over monetary allocations — was
more or less final. The formula applied by the Services was reaching a higher
figure, while the one used by the Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA)
was producing a lower figure. That deadlock has been resolved now, Singh
said."
The complete news can be accessed at the following link:
One more news on OROP can also be accessed at the following
link:
The flurry of mails on OROP in the last few hours surprises me. I get the feeling as if all veterans are glued to their computers and TV screens (like watching an IPL match) expecting Modi to hit a sixer anytime. The crescendo keeps rising and ebbing with each new opinion of optimism or disappointment. To me watching all this excitement is like seeing a thirsty and starving group lost in the Sahara desert suddenly sighting a mirage or an oasis.
ReplyDeleteI hope I am wrong but expecting OROP so smoothly will only be a pipe dream. There are many a slip between a cup and the lip. Many nuts and bolts still waiting to be tightened before the final product is presented to Veterans. We still do not have the final picture of the product ... its shape, size, colour, weight, characteristics, contents, combinations, limitations and texture. So what if our design has been approved but in what shape will the final product be given to us, is still a mystery.
We have crossed many dead-lines (or is it date-lines?) patiently .... let us wait for the next such line praying NAMO NAMO NAMAHA ....
Vtrn Ram Gulrajani
The biggest victims of this long sordid drama of OROP are the veterans in their sunset years who fought for us in 62, 65 and 71 wars and still the Nation comforts them with 5000 or so, a fraction of designer dress. The loss of credibility and loss of goodwill of defence fraternity will continue to haunt the Govt and the party for days to come even if implemented with full modalities
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