“It is worth mentioning the fact that the Centre had recently fulfilled the 40 year long pending demand of the ex-servicemen regarding their pensions.”

The government at the centre, under the leadership of Narendra Modi, has requested the ex-servicemen to withdraw their protests on OROP. The government has said that there was no point in carrying on with the protests, now that the issue has been resolved.

The government had recently accepted the 40 year long demand of the ex-servicemen to grant OROP. But the ex-servicemen are demanding that the scheme also be made applicable to those who had opted for voluntary retirement and that the pension be revised once every year. Protests are continuing for the implementation of these and a few other important demands.

Amit Shah, the national president of the BJP has accused the Congress of trying to manipulate every issue to gain political mileage. “We have fulfilled our promise to implement OROP. After keeping quite for all these days, why is Congress making noise now?” he asked.

Meanwhile, Anna Hazare has announced that he was withdrawing his earlier announced protests for OROP. He was planning to launch a massive fast on October 2 demanding the implementation of OROP and withdrawal of the Land Acquisition Bill. Since it has now become clear that there is no possibility of clearing an emergency bill on land acquisition, and since the government has accepted the OROP demands, he has said that he was withdrawing the protests.

The post OROP: Modi Requests Withdrawal of Protests; Anna Hazare cancels hunger strike appeared first on CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES NEWS.

“After the centre’s announcement of implementation, all ex-servicemen are curious to know about their likely increments and arrear in pension revision.”

Despite the fact that the Central Government has announced the implementation of OROP, which has been the long-standing demand of ex-servicemen for more than 40 years now, anti-government protests and rallies continue to rock New Delhi.

The ex-servicemen have made clear their disappointment over certain important demands and expectations related to the OROP, including the amendments in the pension revision, date of implementation, constituting a one-man commission, fixing of the base year, and the case of those who chose to retire early. These are also the reasons why protests have resumed.

According to the Ex-servicemen statement, 46% of ex-servicemen are PMRs(Pre Mature Retirement). So, this is the very important aspect in this scheme and we cannot compromise, veterans said.

The relay fast that was started at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar in order to demand the immediate implementation of OROP, continues even after 83 days. Finally some of the war veterans launched a fast-unto-death protest. These protests, that were carried out in order to get the government to take some concrete action, instead of just making promises, succeeded. But, instead of celebrating the success of their protests, the ex-servicemen forced to declare that their protests will continue.

On the other hand, however, the Central Government has also splashed pictures of ex-servicemen delegates greeting the Prime Minister with bouquets, congratulating him for implementing the OROP scheme. But, there is no denying the fact that the announcement has brought cheers to all the ex-servicemen in the country.

Meanwhile, the big question among ex-servicemen now is – how much will the actual increment be? What is the arrears amount? When will it be delivered?

Understanding the OROP scheme is getting more and more complicated with new demands and clarifications being raised with each passing day. Only by debating and discussing on these issues can they be understood clearly. It is difficult to predict the increments and arrears of each and every pensioner accurately. There is no fixed age of retirement for all. The arrears and increments have to be calculated on the basis of their ranks, the number of years that they had served, and the year of their retirement.

It would be easier to calculate this if the Government releases a detailed PROJECTED OROP TABLE of revision of pension for all categories.

But, everyone, justify from the Jawans, up to senior officers, is assured of enhancement of approximately Rs.2200 to Rs.22,000 pm.

Source: http://www.cgstaffnews.in/

The post One Rank One Pension – Expected Pension hike and Arrears for ex-servicemen appeared first on CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES NEWS.

In simple terms, OROP implies that uniform pension be paid to the Armed Forces personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service, regardless of their date of retirement. Future enhancements in the rates of pension would be automatically passed on to the past pensioners. This implies bridging the gap between the rate of pension of current and past pensioners at periodic intervals.

Under this definition, it has been decided that the gap between rate of pension of current pensioners and past pensioners will be bridged every 5 years.

The benefit will be given with effect from 1st July, 2014. The present government assumed office on 26th May, 2014 and therefore, it has been 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.

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.

In future, the pension would be re-fixed every 5 years.

The post Spotlight of One Rank One Pension appeared first on CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES NEWS.

Although there is no official confirmation from the government, the ex-servicemen’s United Front are ready to accept the demand if it comes with a once-every-two-years pension revision, instead of five.”

Implementation of One Rank One Pension : After crossing multiple hurdles the One Rank One Pension scheme is stuck at one final block. The Government has clarified that it was impossible to revise the pension each year. It is ready for a revision once every five years. But, there are talks that the Government would relax its stand and agree to revise the pension once every two years.

“There is no confirmation from the Government side, but if they agree to revise the pension once every two years, we will accept the term” Major General (Retd) Satbir Singh, who is heading the protests, said.

Sources claim that a section of the ex-servicemen are not ready to accept the once-every-two-years revision. They want to call a general body meeting and discuss it.

Months, weeks, and days have gone. The announcement from the government is now expected in 48 hours. But, there is always the question of whether one should or shouldn’t trust these news.

Many wonder why the demand, that had remained pending for years, suddenly gained momentum and force now. Plenty of reasons are also being attributed to it. Here are the two most important ones –

1. The fact that Modi had voluntarily offered to implement the OROP if he is voted to power. OROP was also included in his election manifesto.

2. Defence pension has not been revised for more than seven years, since the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission came into being. Thousands of army personnel who had retired before 2006 have not been given any pension revision until now. The Government’s refusal to heed to the countless talks, cases, and judgements of various courts has brought the crisis to this stage.

Source: 7thpaycommissionnews.in

The post One Rank One Pension : A new wave of expectation rises; Announcements expected in 48 hours appeared first on CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES NEWS.

“For the first time, a clause in OROP was openly rejected. The Finance Minister has refused to give annual increment for pensioners like servicemen get.”

“The task of the finance minister is very much like the housewife’s. She has to spend each and every rupee wisely to make sure that there is no cash crunch towards the end of the month,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told the reporters during a press meet.

Ex-servicemen have been fighting for the past 78 days demanding the implementation of One Rank One Pension. The finance minister told the reporters, “We are ready to give them OROP, but we cannot give them annual increments like they demand. We can consider revisions once every five years. The 7th Pay Commission will soon submit its report to the Government. If we have to implement their recommendations and the OROP, there will be additional expenses. We’ll have to manage that too.”

He also said that the Central was committed to the long pending demand of One Rank One Pension but the ‘only difficulty’ as the ‘arithmetical translation’.

“My work is very similar to the responsibilities of a housewife. She has to run the family with the money that her husband brings and ensure that there is no cash shortage throughout the month. Therefore, we will not be able to give a 3% annual increment on the pension that is being demanded by the veterans.

“We have the responsibility of looking after these soldiers who retire at the age of 35 or 38. We agree to implement the OROP scheme. Pensioners are likely to see a substantial increase in their pensions. But it is impossible to increase the pension each year. Accepting these “unreasonable concessions” will form the basis for others like BSF and CRPF to make similar demands.

“I have, in my mind, an opinion and formula for OROP scheme. Others too will have their own opinions and formulae, but they have to be reasonable and rational criteria. OROP may not be a scheme with monthly or annual revisions,” he said.

Two major obstacles are, one is yearly increment and another issue of base year. There have been several rounds of talks between the official and the protesting veterans on this issues. But all of those have failed.

The pension drawn by soldiers who had retired earlier much less pension, when compared with the pension received by those who had retired recently. Instead of taking into account the calendar year in which the soldier retires, OROP fixes the pension on the basis of the rank and the number of years the soldier had served, to calculate his pension. Any future enhancement in the rates of pension, it would benefit all the ex-servicemen. This is the most important feature of the scheme.

More than 20 lakh veterans and 6 lakh war widows all over the country are hoping that their pensions will be revised based on OROP Scheme effective from 1.4.2014.

Source: 90paisa.org

The post Arun Jaitley on OROP – Annual pension revision do not happen anywhere in the world appeared first on CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES NEWS.