Agencies
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 5
The government approved a long-awaited scheme to equalise pension payouts for ex-servicemen on Saturday but hundreds of protesting former soldiers rejected key provisions of the Rs 10,000 crore-programme and said their hunger strike would continue.Defence minister Manohar Parrikar said the one-rank-one-pension scheme would be implemented from July 2014 and be revised every five years but wouldn’t be applicable to soldiers who took voluntary retirement – all key sticking points in negotiations that have been deadlocked for months.
The veterans demand an annual or biennial revision of pensions and say voluntary retirement has to be an integral part of OROP because about 40% of personnel take VRS.
“The NDA has betrayed us. If the Prime Minister had told us that VRS wouldn’t be a part of OROP, we wouldn’t have made him PM. If they can’t fulfil their promise, they should leave power and go home,’ Col. Pushpendra told news agencies.
The OROP scheme is expected to benefit about three million military pensioners and may be a vote catcher for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, especially because army pension overhaul was a key promise of his 2014 Lok Sabha campaign.
“The government has accepted OROP in true spirit without being constrained by previous inaccurate estimates. Despite the huge financial burden, given its commitment to the welfare of ex-servicemen, the government has taken the decision to implement OROP,” Parrikar told reporters in New Delhi. But experts have also raised concerns over the crushing financial burden on the exchequer amid flagging economic growth and similar demands by other government officials, especially paramilitary personnel.
Soldiers have demanded OROP for over four decades now, saying basing their pensions on their exit salary was unfair because most personnel retire between 35 and 38 – leaving them vulnerable to inflation eroding their livelihoods.
They also say it is wrong for a soldier who retired recently to receive a larger pension than one who left service earlier and have been protesting at Jantar Mantar in the heart of Delhi for almost three months, asking for a scheme that guarantees equal pension to soldiers retiring in the same rank with same length of service.
Parrikar said the base year for OROP would be 2013 and arrears would be paid in four half-yearly installments and all widows, including war widows, would get arrears in lump-sum. “PM Modi has fulfilled his commitment and implemented OROP. I appeal to the veterans now to continue the task of nation building,” he said.
But ex-servicemen termed the “unilateral announcement” a betrayal, saying they didn’t accept the government’s formula for pension revision or its one-man panel to resolve payment disputes.
“We only accept one point made by the government and that is the implementation of OROP and categorically reject everything else,” said Major General Satbir Singh (retd), who heads the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement.
He said the panel needed five members, three of whom should be former soldiers, and should submit its report in 30 days. “For now, the consensus we have arrived at is that the OROP agitation will continue,” he said.
Parrikar also announced pensions for those retiring in the same rank and with same length of service would be re-fixed as the average of minimum and maximum pensions in 2013, and those drawing pensions above the average would be protected – angered ex-servicemen.
“A senior officer can never receive a smaller pension than a junior officer,” said Singh.
The protesting soldiers also received support from former army chief General VP Malik (retd), a former mediator in the OROP talks, who said the government scheme was unjust. “How can they exclude premature retirees? To exclude them from OROP is unjust. It is foolish. How can one-member judicial commission decide about issues? They should have members from defence forces,” he told HT.
“The whole methodology of the government is wrong. Where are negotiations? It doesn’t encourage trust. It is detrimental to civil-military relationship.”
The following are the highlights of the ‘One Rank One Pension’ (OROP) scheme as announced by the government on Saturday:
* The benefit will be given with effect from July 1, 2014. The government said it assumed office on May 26, 2014 and therefore, it was decided to make the scheme effective from a date immediately after.
* Arrears will be paid in four half-yearly instalments. All widows, including war widows, will be paid arrears in one instalment. Veterans above 60 years of age will also get arrears in one go.
* To begin with, OROP would be fixed on the basis of calendar year 2013.
* Pension will be re-fixed for all pensioners retiring in the same rank and with the same length of service as the average of minimum and maximum pension in 2013. Those drawing pensions above the average will be protected.
* Personnel who voluntarily retire will not be covered under the OROP scheme. Those taking voluntary retirement due to injuries will be protected.
* In future, the pension would be re-fixed every five years.
* Estimated expenditure is Rs.8,000-Rs.10,000 crore. Arrears are expected to be around Rs.12,000 crore.
* A one-member judicial committee will be formed with a Supreme Court judge to look into the unsorted issues of OROP, and give a report in six months.
