One Rank One Pension – Ex-servicemen launch nationwide stir

One Rank One Pension – Ex-servicemen launch nationwide stir

Ex-servicemen have launched a series of protests all over the country demanding the implementation of the One Rank One Pension scheme. A massive relay hunger strike began in New Delhi.

In select cities around the country, ex-servicemen gathered in huge numbers to express their dissatisfaction against the government.

Ex-servicemen are being given pension depending on the year of their retirement, their ranks, and the number of years that they had served. Soldiers who had retired before 1996 continue to get very low pensions compared to those who had retired after 1996, leading to a great dissatisfaction among those who belong to the former category. A senior officer who had retired before 1996 draws lesser pension than his junior officers who had retired after 1996. Despite the fact that budgetary allocations were made to resolve this issue, nothing was done.

In addition to Delhi, similar protests are also on in Bihar, Jalandar, and Bengaluru.

Latest updates on Protest over OROP delay…

One Rank One Pension likely ahead of Bihar polls – PTI
The long-pending ‘One Rank One Pension’ (OROP) scheme for ex-servicemen is likely to be rolled out ahead of the Assembly polls in Bihar later this year, top government sources indicated on Tuesday.
The government is working out the modalities for OROP and the announcement will be made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, they said. (Click to continue…)

THE SOLDIER’S justify – WHY THE ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE ONE RANK ONE PENSION ARE MISLEADING – Times of India
Third Pay Commission, which brought military salaries in line with civil services. It set us down the road to the current fight over one-rank-one-pension (OROP) by military veterans.
Sixth Pay Commission granted what bureaucrats call “nonfunctional upgrade“(NFU) to officers in all-India Group A services.This is a sort of ’pay-romotion’ allowing them to draw higher pay than their rank under certain conditions. Almost all civil servants benefit from this while defence services officers do not. As lawyer Navdeep Singh points out, NFU is a sort of “OROP by backdoor for civil servants“. (Click to continue...)

One Rank One Pension row: Ex-servicemen begin indefinite hunger strike at Jantar Mantar – Zee News
In an extreme step taken to ratchet up the pressure on the government, the ex-servicemen reportedly signed a ‘petition in blood’ and announced to hand it over to President Pranab Mukherjee and PM Narendra Modi. (Click to continue...)

FINANCE, DEFENCE MINISTRIES GET TO WORK ON MILITARY PENSIONS OVERHAUL – By Shishir Gupta and Gaurav Choudhury – Hindustan Times
The finance and defence ministries are working towards hammering out a consensus formula on the proposed retirement benefits. The finance ministry, sources said, has pointed out that a way needs to be found out to fund the payouts, which are likely to increase every year given the definition of OROP.
The finance ministry was inclined to refer the matter to the Seventh Pay Commission headed by Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur to recommend the most appropriate method and roadmap for implementing OROP, sources said.(Click to continue...)