Dear Members of Parliament,
You are all aware of
the issue of One Rank One Pension of Armed Forces. This issue is being debated
since 1984 and finally OROP was strongly recommended by Koshyari Committee in
2011
As per Koshyari
Committee Report, and the deposition by Secretary (ESW), Ministry of Defence,
before the Committee One Rank One Pension is defined as.
Definition
"One Rank
One Pension implies that uniform pension be paid to the Armed Forces Personnel
retiring in the same rank with the same length of service irrespective of their
date of retirement and any future enhancement in the rates of pension to be
automatically passed on to the past pensioners”.
The above definition of OROP has been
accepted by both houses of the Parliament. Honourable Supreme Court has also
ruled in favour of OROP in many judgments. The same definition was included in
the Executive Order of the Govt of India for the Implementation of OROP vide
its letter No- 12(01)/2014-D (Pen/Pol) dated 26 Feb 2014 (Copy enclosed).
The One Rank One Pension which has been
announced on Sep 5, 2015 and notified on Nov 7, 2015 is not the real OROP. It
has many anomalies illustrated below which if not corrected will completely
destroy the definition of OROP approved by the Parliament.
1. Revision
every 5 years instead of every year: This defeats the very concept and
definition of OROP.
Illustration: 20 YEARS OF SERVICE FOR THE FOLLOWING 2 SEPOYS:
Sepoy A and Sepoy B join army on 1 July
1991
Sepoy A- retires in Nov 2011- Rs.4000/-
as basic wage. Pension = Rs.2000/-.
Sepoy B - retires in March 2012- Rs
4500/- as basic wage (Increment as per Jan 1st). Pension = Rs. 2250/-
A is getting Rs 250+ DA = Rs. 600/-
less than B and having served for the same length of service of 20 yrs.
Loss incurred - Rs.7200/- per year or
Rs 36,000/- in 5 years.
2. Govt has announced that Benefit of OROP will
be effective with effect from 1.7.2014: Instead of 01 Apr 2014,
thereby causing a loss to the ESM of 2100 Crores that is presuming annual
expenditure of Rs 8400/ crore on OROP.
Illustration: All articles approved in any budget are
applicable from 1st April each year. Hence OROP should also be effective from
1st April 2014.
By making it effective from 1st July
2014 government is putting ESM at a loss of Rs.2100/-Crores for three months
3. Govt has announced that Base year for
award of OROP to be the calendar year of 2013 instead of Financial Year of 31
March 2014. This defeats the definition of OROP and puts
the old pensioners at loss as compared to the present pensioners. This will
also mean that a pensioner holding senior rank will get pension less than his
junior rank.
Illustration: if Base year for pension is likely to be 2013 as
against 31 Mar 2014 when OROP is applicable from 1st April 2014. This put
a soldier behind by one year / annual increment which is Rs. 500/-. However if
the effective date for implementation is planned to be 1 July 2014 then the
pension should be based on 30 June 2014.
4. Fixation of pension as the mean average of the pay
band instead of the top level: This
adds insult to injury and defeats the definition of OROP. Puts the old
pensioners at loss as compared to the present pensioners.
Illustration: By making it the mean of the year 2013 the
defence personnel retiring with pension above the mean will be at disadvantage.
This would require application of protection clause for a large number of
retirees.
Supposing A soldier retires in 1980 on
completion of 20 years of service.
OROP means his pension should be
brought at par with the pension of the soldier retiring on 31st March 2014 with
20 years of service. By taking mean of min and max pension of 2013, the soldier
will be put to financial loss. This loss can only be calculated once pension
tables are declared by CGDA.
5. One person judicial committee instead of a five person committee: This
commission will not have representative from ESM but will have a member from
IAS as secretary. Hence, it is expected that the recommendations of the
committee will be influenced by IAS lobby (based on inputs from the IAS lobby).
Recommendations of 7 CPC are indications wherein Armed Forces have not been
given due justice. However announcement of judicial committee by GOI along with
the notification is a clear indication that GOI is sure that this notification
is faulty and will not be accepted by the Defence Fraternity.
In
the age of smartphones and Social Media, no person is left unaware of the
happenings in any part of the country. The serving members of the Armed forces
are well aware of the acts of the government and the Protest Movement by the
Ex-Servicemen at Jantar Mantar and across the country. The present Prime
Minister made a promise to the Armed Forces at Rewari before the General Elections
in 2014 that his Government will deliver OROP on taking oath of office if
elected to form Govt. Implementation of OROP was also included in the
President address to both houses of Parliament when the NDA Govt took over.
That promise has not been fulfilled by this Government even after one and half
year.
It is a common knowledge that more than
70% of serving soldiers are relatives of the Ex-servicemen. Ill treatments of
veterans will have direct de-motivating effect on the serving soldiers.
It is also noteworthy that there is
shortage of 30% in the Armed Forces. Policies adopted by the government have
led to a situation where the youth of today is de-motivated to join the Armed
Forces. Clearly, this shall lead to more reduced number than existing today.
These deficiencies are serious nature and have direct bearing on National
Security.
May we request you to
ponder over the situation and think about the security of India in coming
years. May we also request you to ask for serious discussion in Parliament on
National Security and nail the Government so that every Indian is educated
about the fraud being played on the nation by the GOI. May we also ask you to
raise questions in the Parliament and ask the government to Implement One Rank
One Pension (OROP) after removal of the seven shortcomings pointed out and
issue fresh Notification exactly as per approved definition of OROP.
With Regards
Maj Gen Satbir Singh, SM
(Retd) Advisor United Front of ESM &
Chairman
IESM Tele No :
0124-4110579,09312404269 Email : satbirsm@gmail.com
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