DO JOIN AND STRENGTHEN OUR HANDS TO GET YOU
WHAT YOU DESERVE!!
EX-SERVICEMEN ARE NOW UNITED AND
DETERMINED TO GET ONE RANK ONE PENSION (OROP) AS PER DEFINITION APPROVED BY THE PARLIAMENT: INDIAN
EX-SERVICEMEN MOVEMENT (IESM) CALLS FOR A MAHA RALLY ON SUNDAY, 1 FEBRUARY 014
AT 1030H AT JANTAR MANTAR NEW DELHI
Ex-servicemen of India, who had
served their motherland for decades and then retired from active service, are a
neglected lot today. Their welfare has been neglected for over 60 years and
there is no one in Government who seems to care. India is the only country in
the world that treats its ex-servicemen as discarded ammunition, GOOD FOR
NOTHING! UNFORTUNATE BUT TRUE!
Ex-servicemen want a life of
respect and recognition. Ex-servicemen expect the Government and the nation to
give them the due respect for having served the country with their blood and
life.
Biggest loss to 98% of soldiers is
that they are forced to retire at the young age of 38 to 40 yrs (just because
profile of Armed Forces must be kept young), whereas every other citizen of
India has a right to work till 60 years of age and thus enjoys much higher
pension. Just to give an example: two young men, with the same educational background,
from a village take up a Government job, one joins Indian army as a sepoy and
other joins as a police constable or clerk in Government dept. A soldier would
be forced to retire (provided he survives at borders and extreme weather) at
the age of 38 to 40 yrs but his friend in other Government service will retain
his job till 60 yrs of age even if he is medically unfit and then retire and
earn pension. The major disadvantage which is forced on to soldier is that he
experiences all hardships and at times sacrifices his life in call of duty but
will still earn about Rs 40 lakhs less than his friend if they both survive
till the age of 70 years.
The moot question is: why this
indifference to a soldier who is ready to sacrifice his life for safety of country
and countrymen? Is it not the responsibility of the citizens of this great
country and the Government to take care of welfare of the brave soldier and his
family when he is in active service and after his retirement and to look after
his family after his sacrifice in line of duty? Alas!! It is not happening in
India. The citizens and the Government are indifferent to the brave soldier and
this neglect has brought the soldier to such penury that even the Honorable
Supreme Court had commented that the Government of India is treating its
soldiers/ ex-servicemen like beggars.
Ex-servicemen are disciplined by
nature. They do not approve of any disruption to civil society and respect
freedom of all citizens. Ex-servicemen approached the Government with their demands
and problems peacefully. Government did not pay heed to the woes of
Ex-servicemen. Ex-servicemen resented this ill treatment; they decided to
agitate peacefully like any citizen of India. Ex-servicemen resorted to return
of gallantry medals and submitted memorandums signed in their own blood. This
resulted in a big hue and cry and poor state of ex-servicemen was reported in
international press. This forced the UPA Government to accept the demand of
Ex-servicemen and their most cherished demand of OROP was approved in the
budget on 17 Feb 14.
NDA Government followed suit and
also approved OROP in the budget presented on 10 June 14. OROP has been thus
approved by two parliaments; it has become statute, was a personal commitment
of PM Sh Narenedra Modi and was approved by all political parties of India.
Ex-servicemen were elated that at last their dream of OROP would become a
reality. Alas, this was not to be so; their expectations were shattered when
issuance of Government notification for OROP got stuck in bureaucratic
quagmire. Government has failed to issue notification for the payment of OROP
dues even after 10 months of its approval. An indicator of GOOD GOVERNANCE of
NDA Government!!
Ex-servicemen got united and
decided to resume their agitation from 3 Dec to 16 Dec 14 to remind the
Government of their commitment and for early issuance of OROP notification.
Thousands of Ex-servicemen and other ESM organizations vowed to join in the
agitation. ESM UNITY WAS FORGED FOR OROP.
Sh Rajeev Chandrashekhar, MP Rajya
Sabha, then approached IESM and advised them to cancel the agitation and
suggested that the Government be given more time to issue notification. IESM
was not willing to cancel the plan of agitation. Sh Rajeev Chandrashekhar then
offered to arrange a meeting with Raksha Mantri to discuss the issue and
understand RM’s thought process on OROP. IESM met hon’ble Raksha Mantri
on 9 Dec 14. Raksha Mantri personally assured the delegation that he had
understood the nuances and finer points of OROP. RM cleared his thought process
on yearly increments in defence pension as defined in OROP. RM also brought out
wide difference in the expenditure on account of OROP. IESM delegation made it
clear to him that finance experts of MOD must have worked out the expenditure for
OROP at the time of budget allocation. Expenditure on OROP should be same as
estimated for the budget presented in the Parliament by Finance Minister.
Bureaucrats are now inflating the figure only to confuse the issue and deny
OROP to Armed Forces. RM assured the delegation that his mind is clear on OROP
and implementation order for OROP would be out soon. IESM delegation expressed
their fear to RM that bureaucrats would certainly attempt to insert commas and
full stops to distort or dilute the definition of OROP. RM personally assured
that he would not permit any dilution in the definition. IESM delegation came
back reassured that the issue of OROP was in right hands and for the first
time, in sixty years, Ex-servicemen felt that they would not be denied justice.
Their joy was short-lived, as RM in
his interview with Head Lines Today on 16 Dec 14 shattered their hopes when he
stated that it would not be possible to meet 100% satisfaction for OROP. He
further stated that Government is likely to give 80% to 90% OROP to
Ex-servicemen. This statement was a big reversal on his promise on OROP.
Ex-servicemen are aghast on this statement and have decided to resume the
agitation for pressing their demand for 100% OROP. Ex-servicemen ask only one
question from citizen of India; would they approve if Armed Forces
fight the enemy or terrorists with 80% efficiency? Armed Forces lost 527
martyrs and 1363 soldiers were seriously injured/maimed during Kargil war
because they gave more than 100% under extremely hostile conditions and won the
war in 1999 for motherland. Armed Forces lost many more comrades in
terrorist actions because they always give more than 100%. If India does
not accept less than 100% efficiency from Armed Forces then why grant only 80%
of OROP, this is beyond our comprehension. IESM requests Honorable RM not to
fall in the trap of bureaucrats and grant 100% OROP at the earliest.
IESM has full faith in leadership
of Hon’ble RM and expect that he would soon find a suitable solution to
overrule the machinations of bureaucrats against OROP and Armed Forces of
India. IESM expects Hon’ble RM to fulfill his commitments made to IESM and other ESM
organizations.
IESM has received calls from
thousands of veterans and many ESM organizations that they are willing to
support the agitation planned by IESM to press for 100% satisfaction on OROP.
IESM is steadfast that OROP has
only one definition. This definition has been approved by the Parliament and
any deviation/dilution would NOT be accepted in the definition
of OROP.
IESM requests all
Ex-servicemen and ESM organizations to join in a MAHA RALLY ON 1 FEB 14 SUNDAY
AT JANTAR MANTAR NEW DELHI TO PRESS FOR FULL OROP AS PER APPROVED DEFINITION.
DEAR EX-SERVICEMEN, NOW IS THE TIME
TO UNITE AND GET YOUR DEMANDS APPROVED. JOIN IESM MAHA RALLY ON 1 FEB 14 SUNDAY
AT 1030 H AT JANTAR MANTAR IN NEW DELHI IN LARGE NUMBERS TO ENSURE THAT
GOVERNMENT TAKES YOUR DEMANDS SERIOUSLY AND APPROVES THEM.
Gp Capt VK Gandhi VSM
Gen Sec IESM
The great rally to celebrate the great betrayal in modern India should be on a great day of celebration- 26 Jan. let there be repetition of the Bonus March and subsequent judicious voting in the Delhi election to counter modalities being worked out. The failure of Military to protect the interest of their own Soldiers is most striking and unbecoming . The welfare stands outsourced to the veterans rank opposite to what is happening in MHA
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