By Maj Gen Ashok Coomar (Retd)
Raksha Mantri Manohar Parrikar
announced the grant of One Rank One Pension to the armed forces on September
5 in a press conference at Delhi.
The highlight of the announcement was
acceptance of the definition of OROP coined by the Koshiary Committee set upby
Parliament which is given below :-
Same
rank and same length of service — uniform pension, regardless of date of
retirement. Future enhancements in rates of pension to be
automatically passed on to past pensioners. OROP implies bridging gap between the rate of pension of current and
past pensioners at periodic Intervals.
Gap between rate of current and past pensioners to
be bridged every 5 years.
(Portion highlighted in green color is the original
definition and that highlighted in yellow is addition by the government)
But as is the wont of the bureaucrats a rider was
added (highlighted in yellow) which changed its meaning altogether. The effect of
word “automatic” was nullified by bringing in “periodic intervals” which was
fixed at “5 years”.
Further even though effective date was given as
July 1, 2014 the pension was to be re-fixed at average of minimum and maximum
rates as applicable in the calendar year 2013. This was affected by the under
mentioned insertion in the press release:-
Re-fixed pension will be the average of minimum and
maximum pension in 2013.
So in effect the pre-2006 retirees/veterans, who
are already in receipt of minimum pension, are to be given only average of
minimum and maximum or only half of the increase that became due to them in the
year 2013. Award is being implemented in 2015 at a rate which is 2 years old
and will be reviewed only after another 5 years putting them behind by 7 years.
Thus it becomes clear that instead of receiving
pension at the rates actually being given to post 2006 retirees, veterans will
receive the average of year 2013 till the year 2020 which will snatch away
about 50% of their dues for this period! The way the government has been
claiming credit for fulfilling the long-standing demand it appears that paying
average pensions is an all time solution. Loss to veterans and widows can well
be imagined.
Though the fallout will be multiple pensions that
will be paid to various ranks but the government wants the whole nation to
believe that ONE
RANK ONE PENSION has been
awarded! And true to their tradition of sycophancy media is carrying out the
diktat even though some are mentioning that disputes still remain unresolved.
The truth of the matter not-withstanding a large section of public believes
that OROP has indeed been implemented!
A sticking point that never surfaced during
prolonged negotiations was that OROP benefit will not be extended to those who
opted for “Voluntary Retirement Scheme” even though there has never been any
“VRS” in the armed forces. This mischief was dismissed by PM the next day as
mere rumor but controversial clarifications have continued to appear in print
media sowing seeds of further mistrust in the government.
Being highly dissatisfied and feeling let down, the
apex veteran organization rejected most of the award by the government and
renewed their pledge to continue their protest. But after persuasion by
top-ranking veterans and assurances by the RM, that all the sticking points of
dissatisfaction will be discussed and resolved, veterans have discontinued the
Hunger-strike unto death but plan to continue the Relay Hunger Strike till
matter is fully resolved.
The hectic bargaining during negotiations was
least expected of the government as the issue was crystal clear having
been lucidly dealt with by the Koshiary Committee appointed by Parliament and
its report having been accepted by the previous as well as present regime.
Justice, equity and fair play expected from the government were however given a
go-bye while dealing with those who had given their all every time the need
arose.
Ever since OROP issue came to the forefront FM
Jaitley, instead of talking to veterans, kept advancing vague reasons through
media why OROP could not be granted. He feared the possibility of mushrooming
demands for OROP from police forces, country going bankrupt if OROP was
accepted, administrative night-mare in implementation etc without disclosing
any specifics. It was a clever ploy to keep silent on specifics as there was
actually no substance in the negativism.
No other government service has such truncated
career as the armed forces to demand OROP hence the excuse was quite baseless
and may aptly be termed a subterfuge.
About FM’s apprehensions that Indian economy will
collapse on account of OROP a little verification will be in order. RM had done
his home-work thoroughly with assistance of MoD and Controller General Defense
Accounts and had arrived at Rs 8300 Cr. on account of OROP implementation in full.
But FM has reduced the pensions to “average” of the year 2013 instead of full rate
in2013-14. This would reduce the out-go by at least 50% as the minimum is what
veterans are already getting, maximum is their due and the average will be just
half way. How then a vague figure of Rs 8000 to 10000 Cr has been arrived at?
Does the MoF work on vague figures as quoted? Perhaps exact figures have
deliberately not been revealed to conceal the truth.
And how is it that Rs 8300 Cr as proposed by RM was
ruinous while Rs 8000 to 10000 Cr now boasted by FM is not?
The “nigh-mare” apprehended in yearly review of pensions
in this age of computers can only evoke laughter and ruin India’s thriving
business such as launching satellites for others.
Having got the RM around to do his bidding in
depriving veterans of the real OROP and letting the PM down, Jaitley changed
hat and pressed into service the Information and Broadcasting resource. On
flick of a button the entire print and visual media trotted out stories about
grant of OROP at enormous cost to the exchequer and its wide acceptance by
veterans. The fact that the only veterans organization namely United Front of
ESM that had been consulted had rejected the award was sought to be
under-played.
A leading English daily TOI editorially applauded
the government for fulfilling this long-standing just demand. Admitting that
veteran’s expectations were not met in full it advised them to accept it in
view of financial constraints. Would the TOI care to comment upon the
profligacy indulged by the government in granting top wages to the Group ‘A’
bureaucrats by granting “Non-functional Financial Upgrade” which literally
means higher wages without any extra work that has cost the tax-payer Rs 17000
Cr in last few years!
Or will the TOI tell us what editorial advice they
have for India’s “House-wife” to investigate and recover the bad loans
amounting to Rs 6.5 Lac Cr advanced by our PS Banks to just ten business houses
that are unable to discharge even interest payments?
Is their patriotic advice reserved only for the
unflinchingly loyal armed forces veterans who are only asking for OROP
implementation which has been repeatedly promised by PM himself, the last being
from Red Fort on August 15, 2015?
Armed forces veterans are inseparable from serving
personnel because today’s soldiers are tomorrow’s veterans and the wide-spread
filial ties between the two. Any injustice or atrocity to veterans, as
witnessed at Jantar-Mantar on August 14 angers and adversely affects the morale
of serving soldiers. It may boost the ego of some bigoted bureaucrats but helps
only the enemy.
The mischievous campaign of sowing dissensions and
disaffection among veterans has politicized them and may affect national
security if it percolates to the serving personnel. Is portrayal of
government’s victory in short changing veterans in grant of OROP such an
achievement so as to risk national security? Instead government should have
come clean with problems and aimed for a win-win situation. This is not beyond
the realm of possibility even now.
In the present OROP imbroglio the government may
have contrived a victory but has lost moral ground. As a result it has
diminished itself in the eyes of civilized world.
Is PM Modi listening?
No comments:
Post a Comment