Dear Veterans
The rally started at 1000h on 1 Feb 2015 Sunday at
Jantar Mantar. By 1100h the venue was full.
The rally was attended by more than 8000
ex-servicemen from sepoys to Generals and more than 100 families. Veterans' of
all three services recorded their presence and demanded early release of
notification for OROP. The mood in the rally was upbeat and all veterans exuded
confidence and thanked IESM for taking up the problems of ex-servicemen and
bringing them to the center stage. Ex-servicemen were very appreciative of the
help being given by the pension, ECHS and CSD div of IESM. Veterans exhorted
the IESM leadership to continue the fight on behalf of ex-servicemen and their
families with the Government till their demands were accepted by the
Government. They all appreciated the stand of IESM for calling this rally to
remind and request the Government for early release of notification. ESM
praised IESM for declaring that this rally is not to confront the Government
but it has been organized to assist the Government to over-rule the objections
by the bureaucracy for release of OROP.
The delegation from following states attended the
rally.
1. Andhra Pradesh
2. Bihar
3. Chandigarh
4. Delhi
5. Gujrat
6. Haryana
7. Himachal Pradesh
8. Madhya Pradesh
9. Maharashtra
10. Punjab
11. Rajasthan
12. Tamil Nadu
13. Uttarkhand
14. Uttar Pradesh
Speakers; more than 50 speakers including women
speakers addressed the rally. They exhorted the Governing body of IESM to
increase pressure on the Government and confirmed their resolve that
ex-servicemen would not accept anything less than full OROP.
Gist of Speeches; All the speakers were applauded by
the crowd. All speakers encouraged the IESM to continue the fight for
fulfillment of demands of ex-servicemen and fight for justice and equality.
Speakers after speaker asked one question to the Government what is holding the
Government in taking a decision on the OROP, which has been passed by two
Parliaments and is personal commitment of PM of India? All present
shouted that we would not rest till OROP is granted for all ORs, JCOs and
officers'. All speakers explained the meaning and origin of OROP.
Speakers also criticized the Government policies of
neglecting the defense personnel after extracting juice from their life and
thereafter forgetting them. Army personnel are forced to retire after service
of 20 years and at the age of 37 to 40 years. This is the time in their life
when they have maximum responsibilities and have old parents to look after but
are without a job and on meager pension. It should be the responsibility of the
Government to give them job till 60 years of age as is the case of all
Government employees.
Speakers warned all present and the ex-servicemen
community at large to be very careful from few disgruntled veterans, who had
been working against the interest of IESM. These veterans were spreading rumors
and were collecting funds on the name of IESM. This activity by these veterans
was a fraud on the ex-servicemen community. All ex-servicemen were requested to
give membership fee and donations only by cheque in favour of IESM a/c no
06162000001330. Some of the ESM had been spreading rumours about cancellation
of the Rally but despite their propaganda more than 8000 ESM gathered for the
rally.
Speakers also expected more improvement in ECHS and
canteen facilities where in they wanted these services to be extended to all
the ex-servicemen in villages, where bulk of the ex-servicemen settle after
retirement.
All the speakers were unanimous in demanding more
pensions for widows. They expressed that the widows were the most neglected
segment of ex-servicemen family. It was surprising that the Govt did not pay
any attention to the widow of a soldier who had given his life for protecting
the nation.
IESM Delegation Met the Raksha Mantri;
IESM delegation consisting of 30 ESMs and widows was
invited by Raksha Mantri to discuss their problems and their expectations of
OROP. ESM from all states joined the delegation and went to Kotah House to meet
the RM at 1100h. COAS Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag was also present in the
meeting.
Raksha Mantri welcomed all ESM and their families
and explained that he was convinced that OROP is a genuine demand of Armed
Forces/ex-servicemen and must be given. He further expressed that he has gone
into all nuances and finer points of OROP and has understood the OROP and
genesis of OROP. He stated that he has over-ruled the objections of MOD that if
OROP is given to Armed Forces other services will also demand it. He confirmed
that Armed Forces pension should be called Mil Pension and hence other services
are not entitled for it. He appreciated that service conditions of Armed Forces
are very difficult and they need more compassion from the nation and the
Government.
He further explained that he is working on the
financial effects of OROP and would soon send the file to Ministry of Finance.
He made following commitments to the delegation.
* That OROP would be as per definition approved in
the Parliament.
* That there will be no dilution in OROP from the
approved definition.
* That he would approve the file soon and would send
it to Ministry of Finance latest by 17 Feb 15.
* That he would personally discuss the OROP with
Finance Minister and get it approved at the earliest and may be within a month.
* That OROP will be applicable w.e.f 1 Apr 14
irrespective of its date issuance of Government letter.
* That he is targeting to release OROP letter as per
approved definition before End March 15.
He further explained that he has been quoted out of
context about 80% satisfaction. He explained that in any situation there will
be some who would object and his comment on 80% satisfaction level was for
them. He again emphasized that his effort was to ensure that there should be no
anomalies in the letter issued for implementation of OROP. The delegation
explained to him that there will be no anomalies if the approved definition of
OROP is followed without change of its text.
The delegation members brought to his notice the
plight of Veer Naris. Gp Capt VK Gandhi explained that these widows were denied
increase in pension in 2009 on flimsy grounds by MOD. This increase in pension
was given to all ESMs. This was a very insensitive decision on part of
MOD to deny increase in pension for widows. RM queried from widows about their
pension and their difficulties. He was told that a widow gets only Rs 3500/
pension and they are living a life of great hardship. RM sympathized with them
and explained that he was not aware of their problems and would look into these
problems. He instructed COAS to put the issue to MOD.
RM explained to the delegation that he has
instructed to cancel all legal cases filed by MOD in case of disabled soldiers.
The issue of grant of arrears of increase of pension
from 1 Jan 06 was also brought to his notice by Gp Capt VK Gandhi and it was
explained that while central Government employees had already been paid the MOD
has not initiated any action on release of payment. MOD is probably taking
shelter that only litigants will be paid. This is not a valid ground to refuse
payment of arrears. This decision/attitude will force veterans/Armed Forces
personnel to go to court for release of arrears from 1 Jan 06. This will be
against the stated stand of honorable RM. He promised to look into this issue.
The delegation was happy about the commitments made
by RM and came back with an upbeat mood.
The delegation has felt for the first time that
there is someone in Government who is sensitive to their litany of woes and he
is RM of India Mr Manohar Parrikar.
Discussion with COAS Gen Dilbag Singh Suhag;
Delegation members discussed their problems with COAS after meeting with RM was
over. The delegation explained to COAS that they were facing difficulties in
ECHS and CSD even in areas with high density of veterans. COAS explained that
he had included ECHS and CSD for veterans in his high priority list. He had
issued instructions that ECHS administration needed to be more compassionate in
attending to veterans. His instructions were that at least two staff members
should be there to welcome all patients coming to polyclinic for treatment.
These staff members would guide or provide wheel chairs to senior veterans on
coming to polyclinic. He was similarly looking into CSD facilities. He also
confirmed that he had issued instructions to commanders that they should liaise
with state CM and improve working of Zila Sainik Boards in the cities and
improve the condition of Sainik Aaram Gahs where-ever available. He assured the
delegation that he was doing his best to take care of veterans because soon he
and other seniors would join veterans on retirement.
Maj Gen Satbir Singh SM, Chairman of IESM; Maj Gen
Satbir Singh recounted the sacrifices made by the ex-servicemen and asked the
Government that why should a sepoy who had fought in 1962, 1965 and 1971 wars
and in 1999 in Kargil war get less pension than the sepoy who was
retiring today. He explained that Government had now realized that
ex-servicemen need more compassion from the Government and the nation and had
in principle approved OROP. He lamented that notification of OROP has not been
released by government on some pretext or other even after nine months of its
approval.
He explained that today’s rally had been organized
only to remind the Government to keep up their promise and release the
Government notification for OROP at the earliest. He informed the gathering
that a delegation of about 30 ESM and Veer Naris had just met the RM at 1100h
today. RM was very sympathetic to ex-servicemen and widows and he had given his
commitment that he would ensure that OROP file would be sent to MOF latest by
17 Feb 15 and he would personally follow up with the Finance Minister for its approval.
RM had committed that OROP will be as per definition approved by Parliament and
it would not be diluted. In-fact RM went a step further and told that OROP is
special to only Armed Forces and will not be applicable to other central
government employees. OROP will be called Military Pension and is special to
only Armed Forces.
He invited all ex-servicemen associations in India
to come forward and join hands with IESM and fight for the right of
ex-servicemen. He stated that unity of purpose is the call of the day and all
ESM organizations must unite to fight for injustice being done to
Veterans.
All present roared and shouted that "Gen
Satbir tum lado hum tumhare saath hain."
The Gathering shouted slogans:-
OROP le ke rahenge le ke rahenge.
Fouji ekta zindabad zindabad.
IESM zindabad.
Chairman thanked veterans for coming for the rally
despite their other pressing works and extreme cold weather.
Admin arrangements; Water, tea, biscuit and Mathhi
arrangements were made for the gathering. It was appreciated by the veterans.
All members of the Core group whole heartedly participated in making the rally
comfortable for the veterans.
Parallel Rallies All over India; ESM all over India
spread over Varanasi, Kanpur, Mumbai, Secunderabad, Tricity Chandigarh, Chennai
and Trivandrum also presented memorandums to Gov/CM/DC for onward transmission
to Government. One copy of these memorandums was received by IESM office and
was included in the memorandum presented to RM. IESM appreciates the
enthusiasm of state conveners in arranging the rallies in their area.
Press coverage; Press and media in India and abroad
covered the event. Headline today, INDIA TV, and PTC channels were present in
full form and had recorded the proceedings of the rally. World media has
also reported the event. Local media all over India also covered the parallel
rallies arranged by conveners
Membership; More than 300 members joined IESM during
the rally.
Donations; IESM is very thankful to veterans
who had wholeheartedly contributed funds for the rally. More than Rs 20000/
were received as donations during the rally. IESM appreciates the
contribution of all veterans and expressed that this money would be used for
welfare of ex-servicemen and realizing the dreams of all veterans and
widows.
Vote of Thanks; IESM thanks veterans in making the
rally successful. Gen Sec thanked ESM that they had come from 14 states of
India to participate in rally. Gen Sec thanked veterans for participate in the
rally in large numbers despite extreme cold weather.
IESM thanks Col Alexander for giving support to
design and produce banners and back drop banner for stage free of cost.
IESM thanks all the veterans for donating generously
for the cause of ex-servicemen.
THE FIGHT FOR OROP WILL CONTINUE TILL NOTIFICATION
FOR OROP IS ISSUED. IESM REQUESTS ALL THE VETERANS' AND SUPPORTERS TO DONATE
GENEROUSLY FOR VETERANS' CAUSE. PLEASE MAKE THE CHEQUES IN FAVOUR OF 'INDIAN
EX-SERVICEMEN MOVEMENT A/C NO 06162000001330.
IESM requests members to not to be misled by anti
IESM propaganda by few politically motivated veterans. IESM has been
established for welfare of veterans and will continue to represent veterans
(whether IESM members of not) with the Government. IESM will dedicate itself in
solving problems of veterans.
The Rally was closed at 1500h.
Gp Capt VK Gandhi VSM
(Source- Vasundhra blog)
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