Blaming the bureaucracy for undue delay in granting 'one rank one
pension' to country's 30 lakh ex-servicemen, Congress Deputy Leader in the Lok
Sabha Capt Amarinder Singh has sought urgent attention of the Prime Minister
Narendra Modi to address the issue.
In a letter to the PM, Capt Amarinder wondered whether it was the
bureaucracy or the parliament that was running the country. "I am
intrigued over such a situation where the bureaucracy has been trying to overrule
parliament. Is it the bureaucracy that is running this country or
Parliament?" he asked.
He said, it was strange that despite the decision about OROP
having been approved by the Parliament, no headway has been made so far as the
vested interests in the bureaucracy are trying to scuttle it.
The former chief minister wondered despite both the UPA and NDA in
favour of the decision it was still not being implemented.
He pointed out, it was the previous UPA government which approved
the OROP. "The then finance minister P Chidambaram
allocated Rs. 500 crore for this purpose in his last budget as the
exact figures had not been known at that time", he said, adding "the
finance minister Arun Jaitely also approved about Rs.1000 crore for this
purpose in this year's budget".
The Congress leader also said that since then the total amount
required for the implementation of the scheme has been worked out to be
about Rs. 9500 crores, which is a pittance as compared to the
expenditure incurred on other schemes like Food Security or MGNREGA which cost
lakhs of crores of rupees.
"Despite that the ex-serviceman have not been able to
get the benefit just because the bureaucracy do not want to pass on this
benefit to them", he regretted.
He said, he was surprised that the matter has been put on the
back-burner for an amount of Rs. 9500 crores.
"Should this amount really matter for a country like India
and that too when it concerns our 30 lakhs ex-servicemen dedicated their life
to the country having served the nation in peace and war", he asked.
I fully agree with Capt Amrinder Singh that buereacracy is main hurdle for OROP. They always think we are the people who running the nation.The sacrificed made by the SOLDIERs of the Indian Armed Forces is no matter in the book of so called BABUS. May I REQUEST PM and DM to please look in to the matter seriously and resolve and long demand of OROP.
ReplyDeleteOne rank one pension: Good news on its way
ReplyDeleteManohar Parrikar, the defence minister of India was recently quoted as saying that the announcement of its implementation would be made in 4 to 8 weeks.
For many ex-servicemen the wait has been a long one. Their demand and fight for One Rank One Pension will become a reality soon.
Sources tell OneIndia that the defence ministry is working over time to ensure that the same is implemented in quick time.
1 rank 1 pension: Good news on its way
Manohar Parrikar, the defence minister of India was recently quoted as saying that the announcement of its implementation would be made in 4 to 8 weeks.
Significance of OROP
It is an equal demand for pensions. If an officer has retired last year and there is an increase in the pensions the following year owing to enhancements by the pay commissions then it is implemented only prospectively. Basically if an officer has retired in 1990 in the current scenario he is not entitled for an enhanced pension if the same is implemented during the later years.
The argument has been that the pension for officers of the same rank should remain the same at all times. This the ex servicemen had demanded as the costs of living was going up and the hike in pensions should benefit all and not just those who have recently retired.
Red tape
The government has time and again assured the ex servicemen that the OROP will be implemented. It was promised during the elections and even the Prime Minister had said that he was blessed to be the one implementing it.
However there are certain teething issues that the government is facing on this front. Several ex servicemen say that they have done the rounds of various offices several times. However there has never been any clear response. They also have stated several times that the government or the political class needs to step on the gas pedal to push this issue through.
Budgetary allocation
Government sources say that the finance minister had already allocated Rs 1000 crore for the OROP. This itself is an indication that the government is committed to the cause. We agree there have been delays but work is on in full throttle now to dismantle all those bureaucratic hassles which had slowed down the process.
The government says that unlike the previous regime we will not just make announcements and then forget about it. There are 24 lakh pensioners and all of it has to be taken into consideration.
There was also a bit of a delay as when the government took over it had appointed one man to handle both defence and finance. However now with the new defence minister taking charge this issue is being exclusively looked into. All bureaucratic hassles have been wiped out and an exclusive team is working on it, sources in the ministry informed.