Ex-servicemen attend a meeting on the OROP issue at Parade Ground in Dehradun on Sunday
Tribune News Service
Dehradun, September 27
Maj Gen Satbir Singh (retd), chairman of the Indian Ex-servicemen Movement (IESM), said here today that agitating ex-servicemen would not accept the clause of five years in the one rank one pension (OROP) scheme. The Union Government had added the clause while announcing OROP benefits on September 5.
Maj Gen Satbir, reacting to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s statement that defence personnel who take voluntary retirement would not be entitled to OROP benefits, said VRS was not applicable to defence forces as defence personnel retire under the premature retirement scheme with an aim to keeping the forces young and physically fit.
He said defence personnel retire at an early age with pension, hence they should also be covered under the OROP scheme. The Central government should equalise pension of defence personnel every year instead of proposed every five years, as it would result in one rank five pension instead of OROP.
He expressed concern that the clause would defeat the purpose of OROP as pension of retired junior officers and other ranks would be much higher than the retired senior defence personnel, who had retired earlier.
Maj Gen Satbir said they had submitted a memorandum to the Defence Minister demanding quashing of all clauses added to the OROP scheme. The Centre Government should constitute a five-member committee comprising three retired defence personnel, one serving personnel and one from the Ministry of Defence to review equalisation of pension.
Earlier, Maj Gen Satbir addressed a gathering at Parade Ground here. He said 60,000 servicemen retire from the Indian defence forces every year, hence OROP would not put much financial burden on the Union Government.
He said the agitating ex-servicemen would hold a series of protests across the country if the Union Government did not accede to their demands till October 4.
Maj Gen C Nandwani (retd), president of the United Front of Ex-servicemen, Uttarakhand Chapter, expressed anguish at the delay in sanctioning of OROP benefits to ex-servicemen. He said same pension benefits should be given to retired defence personnel who held the same rank and had put in an equal number of years of service, irrespective of the date of retirement.
Maj Gen Nandwani said disparity in pension would not be tolerated at any cost. Senior retired defence personnel, including Maj Gen Lalji D Singh, Brig KG Behl, Brig RS Rawat, and Capt AS Bhandari, attended the rally.
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